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• At Chikkamagaluru and Hassan on 23.01.2020
• At Ramanagara on 16.01.2020
• At Tumkuru on 17.01.2020
• At Chitradurga on 24.01.2020
• At Davangere on 25.01.2020
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The workshop was inaugurated by PCCF (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Shri Sanjay Mohan and Vice Chancellor of Hampi University .It was attended by the field officers of Dharwad, Bellary , Gulbarga , Belgaum Circles along with local resource persons , students and public.
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The Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board in association with Karnataka Forest Department, National Centre for Biological Sciences, The Bengaluru Butterfly club and Indian Foundation for Butterflies organized Butterfly and Bee festival twice in the year 2019 to create awareness about the important ecological roles played by butterflies and bees. This festival involved a walk with nature and identification of different species of butterflies, sharing interesting facts about them, educating children about their life cycles through interesting talks and enacting plays. First Butterfly and Bee festival was conducted at the campus of Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru on 15th July 2019. Around 70 members and school children attended the festival . The 2nd Butterfly and Bee festival was held at Forest Research Centre, Doresanipalya, J.P Nagar, Bengaluru on 23rd November 2019. School children from various schools and 120 members participated in this festival.
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The Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board organized certified nature guide training program from 12th to 16th Nov 2019 at Bannerghatta Nature Camp. There were 36 participants for the training program. The objective of Nature guide training program is to impart basic training to the local youths in the subjects of nature, wildlife and skills required got guiding tourists and to certify the trainees after completion of training so that they can be employed in Eco trails run by Karnataka Forest Department in regulated and controlled manner.
The Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board has so far conducted such training program for more than 253 Certified Nature Guides. Generally, this Nature Guide training Programme lasts for 5 Days for which the participants/trainees are ed by the respective field officers. Participants come from various backgrounds that may include forest watchers, those who are already working as trekking guides and those who are manning interpretation centers. They participate both in the classroom sessions and in all field activities as scheduled in the training program. The resource personnel guide the trainees on various aspects such as Hazard evaluation, Risk management, Emergency procedures, natural history through geology, basic information of birds, amphibians, mammals, important tree species, climbers etc.
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In order to recognize excellent/extraordinary service in conservation of Forest and Wildlife, Karnataka Forest Department’s staff were felicitated with Marappa Memorial Award on 21st December 2019 at Aranya Bhavan, Bengaluru. The Award was given to Sri.G.Santosh, DRFO, Haliyal Division Sri. Hazarath Saab Gousakhan Kundagola, DRFO, Karwar Division Sri. S.J.Naveen Kumar ,DRFO, Bengaluru Urban Division Sri.Shashi.P.T.,DRFO, Madikeri Division Somashekara.B.Paavate, DRFO, Sakleshpura Research Station Shanmukha.U., DRFO, Bhadra Wildlife Division Nayana Kumari.H.A.,Forest Guard ,Honnavara Division M.D. Sri. Ayappa,DRFO,Mysuru Wildlife Division Sharath Shetty. K., Forest Guard, Mangaluru Division Shri. Choudappa Nayaka.V. Jiddimani ,Forest Guard ,Virajapete division Sri. Abdul Mujeeb ,Forest Guard ,Kollegala Division Paapanna Sannaboraiah ,Forest Watcher, Bellary Division Sanjeeva Maruthi Asnotikara,Forest Watcher,Karawar Division Sri. Jatti Thippaiah Nayaka ,Honnavara Division Mahadeva.M.Maddi, DRFO, Honnavara Division.
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A two day workshop was organized on various aspects of raising Sandal in Agro-forestry by Social Forestry Wing at Aranya Bhavan, Bengaluru on 3rd and 4th of January 2020, in collaboration with Sandal Growers Association. The workshop was attended by senior forest officers, and field officers of Bangalore Circle.
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Kuduremukha Wildlife Division organized a Health Camp on 8th January 2020 for the benefit of Fringe villages of Kuduremukha National Park.
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Street plays were enacted on 9th January 2020 to educate the Tribals and Villagers of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve area regarding protection of forests from fire.
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Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board in association with the Karnataka Forest Department and Institute of Wood Science and Technology organized “Moth Festival” to disseminate the sense of conservation of Moths. Online registrations for this program were hosted on Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board’s platform www.myecotrip.com, on which 48 public were registered. On the day of the event i.e., 16th July 2019 including the scientists working in the Institute of Wood Science and Technology and Registered participants, more than 70 people participated in the event.
The following are the topics presented at the event:
1. Mr. Thomas Vattakaven, a microbiologist by training and researcher at the India Biodiversity Portal spoke about the importance of Citizen Science in India and discussed data from 6 years of National Moth week.
2. Mr. Haneesh K M is an Electrical engineering professor at Christ University and one of the founders of the Bangalore butterfly club. He spoke about the Moth diversity in Bangalore and discussed their ecology.
3. Rachit Pratap Singh, a Christ University graduate and reviewer at the Moths of India website gave a general presentation on moths, discussing about their behaviours, identification, importance and everything in-between. With the above presentations, a video documentary about moths was presented and a practical session involving observing moths by erecting a white screen to attract various moths of the IWST campus.
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Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board, in collaboration with Karnataka Forest Department is organizing 6th Karnataka State Bird festival 2020 in the foot hills of Nandi Hills from 17th – 19th of Jan 2020. Located about 60 km north of Bengaluru, Nandi Hills is part of a conspicuous range of hills consisting of four other hillocks – the Brahmagiri, Channagiri, Dibbagiri and Skandagiri. Nandi Hills is one of the most sought-after bird-watching destinations of Bangalore. It is known to harbor over 200 species of birds. Some of the important birds that can be seen at Nandi Hills include, Blue-headed Rock Thrush, White-throated Ground-thrush, Eurasian Blackbird, Pied Thrush, Indian Blue Robin, Olive-backed (Tree) Pipit, Ultramarine Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, Spotted Babbler, Indian Scimitar-Babbler. The theme for the festival is Conservation of Vultures. Though Long Billed Vultures are not locally present in Nandi Hills, this species is endangered and awareness is required for its conservation. During this festival technical sessions by experts have been arranged along with birding visits. Interested birders may register at https://bit.ly/2ZA2Eko or www.myecotrip.com
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On the occasion of Forest Martyrs Day observed on 11th September 2019 at Aranya Bhavan, Bengaluru Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri B.S.Yediyurappa promised that compensation given to the forest official martyred during discharge of duties will be enhanced from 20 lakhs to 30 lakhs, as in the case of Police Department officials. He promised that necessary Government Order will be issued to implement the same. He also said the Forest Department frontline staff for their dedicated service towards conservation of forest and wildlife, because of which Karnataka is the number one state in the Elephant population and number two in Tiger population. The function was attended by Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Sandeep Dave and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) Sri Punati Sridhar. All senior officers of the forest department were also present. The Police Band performed three rounds of maneuvering on the occasion.
The Tiger census was released at New Delhi as part of Global Tiger Day on 29-07-2019. Heads of the Wildlife Wing of various states were present on the occasion. There was a photo session with Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Sri. Narendra Modi and Central Minister for Environment and Forest, Sri. Prakash Javdekar.