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REPORT
FROM VRINDAVAN FOV ACTIVITIES We inaugurated the FoV India Trust on 22 April 1996, two days before Holi, at Jaya Singh Ghera in Vrindavan. The trustees are: Ranjit Bhargava,
State Chairman WWF and INTACH Street Cleaning is planned, with an integrated approach to ensure maximum community involvement. FoV have won a local authority contract to clean the area surrounding Vrindavan's busiest temple: Bhankebihariji. If FoV do well they will probably be asked to do more. WWF ACTIVITIES Education I inspected two schools, both of which had impressive environmental teaching going on. At the Guru Gangeshwar Devki Bhojraj Girls Junior High School (400 girls aged 4-13) I was shown examples of recycled craftwork, poetry, drama and painting as part of their environmental activities, and was introduced to their environmental teacher who obviously took her work very seriously. At the other school I saw every child received a half-hour environment class per day as part of their total curriculum, along with a full exam regime half-termly, termly and annually in environment. Devendra Sharma, the WWF Education Officer, assured me that this was not untypical of Vrindavan schools since WWF started their work, although it is untypical of Indian schools outside Vrindavan and Mathura.This school would be very interested in a link with Leicester and I include here their full details: Sri Shanta Padam
Shiksha Mandir Junior High School tel (0)565 442 466,
(0)565 442 811 Greening Evidence of their industriousness in tree-planting is plain to see on the streets of Vrindavan and on the parikrama. They are now reaping the benefits of having had largely the same crew developing in-house expertise over the last four years and, all local Brijbasis, feeling that they have a stake in the project's long term success. They are also increasingly aided by an educated public who understand the importance and significance of their work. The programme has now been extended under the direction of Tapan Chaudhuri and Sharad Chaturvedi through the Trees For Life initiative which has been fully adopted as part of WWF's programme. I visited with Anoop Sharma, the WWF Community Officer, three Trees For Life sites in Vraj and was much impressed by what I saw. The programme assists a local farmer to set up a nursery specialising in fruit trees for the benefit of the village and local farmers. The nurseries I saw had been extended to include many other indigenous species. For a very modest outlay, ie. £200 materials plus backup staff costs, these not only provide meaningful employment and boost local economy, they also make available trees that could not otherwise be obtained locally. WWF are proposing to combine their experience with education and Trees For Life in adopting Manasarovar, a famous sacred grove about five miles from Vrindavan town across the river, which is a bird and wildlife sanctuary in urgent need of protection. They plan to develop it as a bird-watching and nature study site. In conclusion, after much hard work, WWF have established a credible team on the ground with good professional expertise in Greening and Education. With continued support from Friends of Vrindavan I expect them to become more and more effective as time goes by. Vrindavan Darshan Our proposed exhibition and education centre in Vrindavan is to comprise two elements: an indoor exhibition with dioramas and audio-visual room, and an outdoor trail and picnic area in a old-growth grove. The site is the Jaipur Temple and Palace, with its 20-acre grove attached, in the heart of Vrindavan town. The Jaipur Temple belongs to the Rajasthan government who have made it available for WWF at no cost. Two large high-ceilinged rooms have so far been set aside inside the main courtyard. Further rooms may be made available for both WWF and FoV. Detailed designs for the exhibition are now being drawn up under Dr Nair's direction. These will be made available along with requests for further funding in the summer. Dr Nair is the founder and former director of the Indian National Museum of Natural History, a world-class museum in Delhi with state museums recently opened or under construction in Mysore, Bhopal and Bhubaneswar. I met with his former assistant Mr S K Saraswat, now national director, who assured me that the exhibition would receive his full co-operation. In effect it could be seen as a project of the National Museum of Natural History, from whom he will no doubt raise additional funds. Madhavan, the grove attached to the site, is a remnant of the original Vrindavan forest with a good number of mature large trees, preserved by virtue of its private ownership - it passed from the Maharajas of Jaipur to the Rajasthan State Government - and will make an excellent annexe to the indoor exhibition, developed as an educational nature trail open to the general public.
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