2 DAYS IN-HAND BEE STATION SETUP TRAINING – UW - RM AT PURULIA. Expert team from NatureMates
Location: Gar Panchkot ,Purulia, West Bengal
Subject: Bee Station Setup Training
Introduction: From 30th March to 31st march, 2024, our NGO Uttarayan Wildlife conducted a training session on Bee Station Setup in Purulia, West Bengal. The objective of this training was to educate members of our NGO and local stakeholders of lands(restoration working areas like – Ranibundh, Garshika) about the establishment and maintenance of bee stations, aiming to promote beekeeping as a sustainable livelihood option and to contribute to environmental conservation efforts.
Participants: The training session was attended by 10 to 12 members of our NGO, including UW’s project head Atin Chatterjee , volunteers and staff members. Additionally, local farmers and community members interested in beekeeping also participated in the training.
Trainer – MD. Ariful Islam from Madhuvan swanirbhar moupalak gosthhi (Barasat).
Training Content:
Introduction to Beekeeping: First day the training began with an introduction to beekeeping, about the classification and types of bees , highlighting its importance in agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and economic sustainability. Participants were educated about the role of bees in pollination and its impact on crop yields.
Bee Station Setup: A detailed session was conducted on setting up bee stations, including the selection of suitable locations, construction of bee boxes, and installation of necessary equipment such as frames, hives, and protective gear. Practical demonstrations were provided to ensure a clear understanding of the setup process.
Bee Management Techniques: Participants were trained on effective bee management techniques, including hive inspection, pest and disease management, and honey harvesting practices. Emphasis was placed on sustainable beekeeping practices that promote the health and well-being of bee colonies.
Environmental Conservation: The training underscored the importance of beekeeping in environmental conservation efforts, emphasizing the role of bees in maintaining ecosystem balance and biodiversity. Participants were encouraged to adopt eco-friendly beekeeping practices to minimize negative impacts on the environment.
Practical Demonstration: On day two - following the theoretical sessions, participants were engaged in hands-on practical demonstrations of bee station setup, management techniques and what kind of safety should be taken. This interactive session allowed participants to gain practical skills and confidence in implementing beekeeping practices.
Feedback and Conclusion: Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing enthusiasm and interest in incorporating beekeeping into their livelihood activities. The training concluded with a commitment from participants to apply the knowledge gained and to promote beekeeping within their communities.
Recommendations: Based on the success of the training session, it is recommended to organize similar capacity-building programs in other regions where beekeeping can contribute to sustainable development and environmental conservation. Continued support and resources should be provided to empower local communities to engage in beekeeping as a means of improving livelihoods and promoting biodiversity.
Acknowledgment: We extend our gratitude to all participants, trainers, and supporters who contributed to the success of the Bee Station Setup Training in Purulia. Special thanks to MD. Ariful Islam from Nature Mates, whose expertise and dedication were instrumental in facilitating the training session.
Learnings:
• Plantation of small plants must be avoided.
• Plantation must start pre monsoon.
• Slurry of cowdung if sprayed on plants will act as cattle repellent.
• For rapid growth of plants, use of chemical fertilizer may help.
• Initial plant management must be done within 2 months of plantation.
List of things we won’t do going forward
• We must avoid places having scarcity of water.
• 100% dependency on solar energy should be avoided.
Hello Mohit - these are hard learnings from the field in our first year specially from local farmers.
. Plantation of small plants must be avoided. - maintenance of saplings in a big space become very intensive and unmanageable esp. with scarcity of people who can take care of it and scarcity of water so best is to grow them in the nursery and plant a good medium size which will have better resilience.
• Plantation must start pre monsoon.
• Slurry of cowdung if sprayed on plants will act as cattle repellent.
• For rapid growth of plants, use of chemical fertilizer may help.- we dont do it.
• Initial plant management must be done within 2 months of plantation. - weeding, organic fertiliser etc.
In last one year of the rewilding project in Bankura and Purulia in approx. 253 acres(760 bighas) along elephant corridors of degraded fallow land - 13,350 has been -planted as a mixture of fruit(take care of local economy and SDG 1), native economical viable forest trees(as per our study of reference forest of Sutan and agro forestry done of mustard in places.
We are starting our land preparation for this year.
For survival the different techniques used are:
Community ownership of the plantation area so that they maintain with water and warding off cattle - initial days of minimum 60/40 partnership and then with one year completion, we wean that so that locals are empowered to take over
Project support in key rain shadow months with watering equipments
During land preparation, organic fertilizer, mulching to preserve soil moisture helps in growth
We have had an average success of 60-70% in all our 7 areas.
The reason I am asking is, can such an initiative be scaled without you having to depend grant/philantrophy? The max impact, I guess, will be when communities do this on their own vs being pushed by outsiders?
Rightly understood - community incentive is the creation of food bank and the forest trees give them economically viable forest produce like neem, lemons, bamboo etc.
Nithin - its amazing that you ask this - presently I have chalked an exit strategy where post initial boost, locals will manage the plantation/ forest with no further intervention from us which will also allow us to scale in bigger proportions. We might continue be knowledge mentors.
Thoughts on your second point - the ideal situation although in this landscape with soil degradation and loss of biodiversity with less to no income among locals from cultivation too[ mostly migrants], I have a plan which I discussed with Sameer on how total empowerment can be achieved.
Hi, loved the work and the website is Insightful. Here are a few things we can try for the purpose of having a data-driven/outcome-oriented understanding of our work. As I can read @NithinKamath’s response below, I am sure, the purpose is also to learn and developed some sort of playbook or framework.
Since 13,350 plans are spread across 253 acres which could be 162 football fields (considering average size = 1.56 acres) team must be visiting monthly or quarterly for inspection.
Is the possible to digitize the entire Plantation spot, area, growth etc? Here is what I mean by digitization.
Plantation database - that I am assuming you most probably have
Pinpoint the Latitude (lat) and Longitude (long) of each Plant so we can track the spot at any point in time
Make it mandatory for the inspection team to click a picture of each plant at the time of inspection so we will have the live status of each plant
Create a remark section and status - active and inactive
And this might not demand additional resources because the lat long can be created and attached at the time of plantation or inspection using Google Maps and that data can be imported into an Excel sheet. And these data points can be rendered on the website where anyone can see the status with a click. (If you find this complicated fine, we will create a demo video )
It is great that we are taking non-linear shots because the real success of all our present work can be only validated in 15 to 20 years, as you rightly said. But having control over what worked, and what didn’t shall allow us to improve - till we fix our problems!
PS: If the team is already doing the above it would be great if we can make it live on the website so anyone can have a look and take inspiration
Uttarayan (Wildlife Wing), a 35+ yr old NGO working with people and ecosystem has been steadily building robust ecology across West Bengal.
We are partnering with WWF West Bengal to create a nursery for elephant fodder and repellant plantation to restore fragmented habitats of North Bengal Terai elephant corridors.
We are also partnering with Rainmatter Foundation for Forest and landscape restoration in a participatory mode – – the largest of its kind in India in parts of elephant corridors of South Bengal – a volatile field of man-elephant conflict.
We also work extensively with WCT in Sundarbans creating a model village in Songaon, Gosaba, Namkhana, where we are restoring saline land, doing plantations to create a balance between ecological restoration and human well being. Our latest initiative is to remove plastic waste from the sensitive ecosystem of Sundarbans.
The NGO’s sole mission and vision has been to REVIVE – REGENERATE – RESTORE fragmented landscapes and recreate rich biodiversity while balancing human needs.
Our methodology is purely community based collaborations so that each benefit from each other and community takes full ownership of the regeneration process.
We are part of the ”Ecological Restoration Alliance India community”
Past 1 year of plantation maintenance by locals and UW team. A severe rainfall shortage was faced across the landscape of 250+ acres of planted forest but thanks to the expert team and timely intervention with water tankers and local support(support committee) to save the plants, we had a mortality of 20% which is industry standard. The plants as inspected by the team every month and organic
