Stall at "Namma Jathre"


The annual event Namma Jathre was organised at Freedom Park in Bangalore on the 29th and 30th of August. LIFE too was invited to keep a stall with the intention of awareness raising and displaying eco-friendly products. Despite the short notice for preparation (one day infact!), we were able to arrange a good display and were able to draw the attention of many of the visitors.

What was on display -

1) Containers for indoor plants made from used/waste glass bottles, bulbs and CDs. These were made with great innovativeness by contacts of LIFE and were well appreciated by one and all.

2) Terrariums - indoor plants kept in a air-tight container which need no taking care of i.e, self-sustaining replicating earth. These were sold for Rs. 200 and the money was forwarded to the trust fund.

3) Re-usable cotton bags - these were for sale for a price of Rs. 25. The money collected was forwarded to the trust fund. Mainly to discourage using of plastic bags to bring milk/groceries/veg.

4) Terracotta painted pots for indoor plants - display only.

5) Free saplings were distributed - singapore cherry, pongamia, tachoma, bignonia, basavana pada and others.

6) Display of recommended reading material - I brought some excellent reading material on the theme of environment which i had at home just to enourage others to read these books. These included - Magazines like Down to Earth and books like - Silent Spring, Gaia hypothesis, The Origin of Species, Hind Swaraj, From Crisis to Cure and Health for All Now.

A book was also kept for interested individuals to register with us to keep them updated on LIFE's events.

Event was concluded with music by Belaku trust for the economically poor children with a feast!

Many of the visitors enquired about LIFE objectives and activities; and these were well appreciated and encouraged. We hope you will be able to join us in our next event!

This was recoreded in TOI on 31st Aug' 09, page 5 column 6 or

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/City/Bangalore/NGOs-tell-world-what-they-do/articleshow/4952221.cms

Kindly find few pics at the following link.

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/lh/sredir?uname=lets.integrate.for.environment&target=ALBUM&id=5376892777145027937&authkey=Gv1sRgCNfYyfCUmZu9bw&invite=CIDu_64E&feat=email

Participants from LIFE

Harsha, Aditya and Swapna

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Maruthi Primary School event



Date of event: 15th August, 2009

Maruthi School is a private school headed by Mr Lakshmi kanth, who has managed to run the school without government aid. He enrolls children who would otherwise end up as child labourers or uneducated citizens. Most of the children come from economically backward families and cannot afford schooling.

A small celebration was organised by the LIFE team on August 15 at Maruthi Primary school at 8.30 am for the students.

1. The celebration started with hoisting of the national flag followed by national anthem.
2. Mr. Lakshmikanth gave a inspirational speech to the students
3. Students were invited to perform their talents. The program gave the poor children who live around our community a chance to perform on the stage.
4.Some fun games were conducted by Swapna, Shrishail and Harsha.
5.Light refreshments were served by Harsha to the staff and children.
6.Discussion was held with Mr.Lakshmilanth to better understand the needs of the school.

Address: Maruti Primary School, gubbala,Kankapura Main Road

How to reach there :
From Banashankari :
Take Kanakapura Road -> Near Khoday’s factory(Konanakunte cross) take a right towards ISRO Layout(Vasanthapura) -> To your left you willfind a board pointint to City Engineering College. Take that road. After some 300mts, to your left is the school.
From Padmanabhanagar :
Take Uttarahalli road -> Turn Left at Uttarahalli circle ->Subrahmanyapura -> Vasanthapura Further-> To your right is the city engineering college board, take that road -> After some 300mts, to
your left is the school.

Let's Libertae underpriviledged from illeteracy and poverty.

Two years ago, along with Dhwani, LIFE had participated at the I-day event at the same school. The student number has increased from 35 to 48. The school provides them with education till 7th grade and organizes lunch through Akshya Paatre (Not a free lunch!!!)

What you can do:

There is a scheme where a child from the school can be adopted at an estimated cost of 4000 INR, which would provide for the educational and lunch requirements of the child for a year. Part payments may also be worked out. Anyone can apply to adopt a child. For more details about this, please send an email to


Thanks, Harsha


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Wildlife survey event at Thali, Krishnagiri


Date of event - August 2nd, 2009

The event was organized by the members of the Kenneth Anderson Foundation and the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation. It is a part of an ongoing one year project which hopes to do the complete biodiversity survey in the forests of South west of Hosur with the intention of declaring it as a sanctuary. It was an opportunity for those inexperienced in the skills of wildlife survey.

Devarabetta is a hill surrounded by forests. These forests adjoins the Bannerghatta National Park. Due to various human activities, the forests in this region have become fragmented and this has led to various problems, especially for the elephants of the region. The corridors of movement of the pachyderms have been blocked on all sides and this has led to human animal conflict in the region. The result has been the death of several elephants and people.

The activity we participated in is called a ‘transect’ or rapid survey of mammals and reptiles, though technically it was not, because we walked along preformed paths. Since no records had been made earlier on the biodiversity in these forests, this was probably the first effort.

We participated in the survey activity on Sunday, the 2nd of august. It was started at 7 am and went on till almost 1:30 pm. Dr. Geetha Nayak of ANCF was the leader of the group and guided us on the walk. Three forest guards also accompanied us. The forests were mostly scrub forests with short trees, though riparian habitats were also seen near streams.

Evidence of species is recorded as –

Direct evidence: spotting the organism itself
Indirect evidence: the footprint, the shed skin, the feces, sounds etc.

Once identified, photographs are taken and also the location of evidence is recorded using GPS device. A survey map is also carried along to help us identify our location and elevation. Binoculars are helpful to observe the creatures from far.

We came across many species of birds, butterflies, lizards and snakes. It is a difficult job to identify the species and requires a lot of experience. All in all, the experience was a very good one and has given us many insights on conservation related work, survey methods and about trekking in forest areas. We surely look forward to more experiences in the future.
Participants:- Adithya, Harsha and Satvik, Prajesh nair and family, Ahmed.

Further events will be published from KANS.

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