October - December 2020

 We carried out our monthly survey at the Chimbai Beach. The highlights of the survey were to discover the ticking of Acorn Barnacle, retracted sea anemones , sea anemones under the rock, amphiphod and pink sponge. There are been an addition to our list i.e. Venus Comb Murex whose worn out specimen was found in one of the rock pools. 

 Yes we trained another new set of 25 kitchen gardeners today. Simple hacks to recycle and grow some home food. Hope more and more corporate employees learn to grow microgreens and lead healthy life.  

Our Butterfly Park in Jamnagar which we designed virtually is ready for execution. It is 1.5 acre land wherein we have created 10 plantation beds & trellises. Around 7000 saplings from 35 nectar & host plants specific to Gujarat will be planted. We are now developing 15 exhibits and 35 plant signages. We hope to visit the site once the work begins. 

On 28th November 2020, under the aegis of Clean Shores Mumbai, a shore walk was organized at Chimbai beach in which 10 enthusiastic Mumbaikars participated. Safety measures were adhered to and participants were sensitized about marine life present at the beach and the importance of its conservation. This was our first on-field shore walk after the lockdown, conducted by our knowledge partner Ladybird Environmental Consulting- LEC.

To know more about our interventions and participate in our activities, please write to us at cleanshores@unitedwaymumbai.org

Mussel Power! We are excited that we recorded one additional species to our existing list of 140 marine species from Chimbai Beach. It is probably Asian Green Mussel though the green tinge is missing in this dead specimen. This is a bivalve that is uniquely fixed to locks with a holdfast like threads.

These are found wedged among rocks in low inter-tidal zone. They are popular seafood therefore harvested. However owing to its ability of storing heavy metals in its flesh, it’s not fit for human consumption if collected from wild shores.

 Lugworm Egg Masses: We recorded these for first time at Chimbai Beach. Thanks to Deepak Samuel from Chennai who confirmed these. We are excited as add these new entries to our checklist. 

 A post lockdown marine survey was very refreshing activity for us. 

Puja was conducted at the Achari kunta  lake by Mayor, Deputy Mayor and municipal commissioner. It was a part of inauguration session of Achari kunta lake. All the community people were present at the inauguration ceremony. The beautification of Achari Kunta lake lake is going on very smoothly. From today the bund formation work has been started. Today we also did the opening of our lake office. 

We conducted the community activity at the Achari Kunta lake. In total 4 people participated in the clean-up activity. All the praticipants strictly followed the preventive guidelines. They collected around 10 kgs of waste and trash from near the lake area. 

 Nowadays everybody shows off their cooking skills and dish out yummy dishes on daily basis so here is our dish. A recipe for cleaner environment . Happy Wildlife Week 

  Virtual Butterfly Park: Now this is new normal for us. Conducting site survey of potential butterfly park site in Jamnagar. Client saves money, we save time and save ourselves from exposing ourselves to Covid. on 30th September  our team alongwith our Architecf we had a virtual tour to our upcoming new project 

 We conducted the community activity at the Achari Kunta lake. In total 8 people participated in the plogging activity. All the praticipants strictly followed the preventive guidelines given by the government regarding the ongoing Covid-19 pendamic. While conducting the activity we collected around 60 kgs of waste and trash from near the lake area. 

 We revisited our previous project site in Hyderabad. We were delighted to find that the Nizampet Lake( Sriram Kunta) has transformed into a Wetland. The undulating lake bed gave rise to several pockets of aquatic vegetation. We also recorded two new plan species which were not recorded previously by us since 2018. These were; Rosy Milkweed Vine(Oxystelma esculentum) and White Plumbago ( Plumbago zeylanica).  

 We celebrated World Clean Up Day by conducting a plogging event at our project site. A group of 5 volunteers took up the challenge of cleaning up of taloja hill forest trail while we were glad that we collected less garbage however manoeuvring on the slippery slopes was a task. 

 Around 150 employees of Tata Communications attended our Masterclass on Kitchen Gardening. They created mini gardens by using household items. They found the activity de-stressing and enriching. It turned out to be a good family activity. 

 Over 50 employees of Tata Communications volunteered in preparing environmental quizzes for school. We conducted an orientation for the volunteers and provided them necessary guidelines. Soon these quizzes will be easily available for teachers to use in their online classes. 

 Over 50 students from Taraben Master School participated in our Masterclass on Butterfly Gardening conducted by Butterfly Man Isaac Kehimkar. Mr. Isaac Kehimkar gave an overview of the butterfly gardening followed by DIY projects by Wilma D’Cunha. The students prepared seed pots for their butterfly garden using their household items. 

 A small group of volunteers helped us by repairing the contour bunds at our Taloja Hill Watershed Project. The soil from the bunds was washed away exposing the bordering rocks as well as roots of live hedge plants. The volunteers repaired six contour bunds by scooping our accumulated soil in trenches and reinforcing the bunds. 

 This was our third workshop during the day where we conducted a session on kitchen gardening for employees of Tata Realty in collaboration with Goodera. Around 30 attendees participated in the live sessions conducted by Dr. Shubhalaxmi & Wilma D’Cunha. The participants prepared planters to grow micro greens. 

 We conducted our second Garden Photography session for employees of KPMG and students of Gandhi Shiksha Bhavan from Juhu. The students were excited to learn different styles of photography from Isaac Kehimkar. They were confident that the skills learnt during the session will be useful for their project work.  

We conducted our first virtual session on butterfly gardening for Tata AIG employees. Around 30 attendees learnt setting up butterfly garden at behest of Isaac Kehimkar & Wilma D’Cunha. While plenary session gave an overview of gardening for butterflies, the handson session showed to raise a butterfly garden from kitchen scraps, seeds and recycled items. Overall the attendees were fascinated by the concept and many set up the garden alongwith is virtually.  

 We conducted our first virtual photography workshop for KPMG employees as well as the students of Taraben Master English Schools. Mr. Isaac Kehimkar shares his experience on nuances of nature photography while Dr. Shubhalaxmi demonstrates live photography session. The students shared their pictures for corrections and suggestions. Overall it was learning existence for us as well as the participants. 

 We conducted plantation activity with our three volunteers. They planted 39 saplings in kharghar valley.  

We conducted our three virtual workshops in July 2020 for clients of Goodera. A total of 207 participants attended the workshop and learned about the techniques and tips on growing their own food.The employees enjoyed the online session. also learned about the recycling plastic bottles to planters and converting kitchen waste to compost. 

  We conducted an orientation session for clients of Goodera. The employee were oriented about creating curriculum based powerpoint presentations. Around 70 employees attended the session. The PPTs developed by volunteers will be shared among school teachers who are struggling to prepare their online lessons. 

We  conducted seed dibbling activity with our two volunteers. They showed seeds of Fever Nut ( Sagar Gota) which will eventually grow into a thorny bush. The seeds were sowed around our planted tree saplings to create a live tree fence. So far we planted 230 native species along the leeward side of the slopes. We now plan to plant hedges on windward slopes to stop soil erosion. The volunteers helped in sowing seeds around 69 saplings. 

 we constructed 15 contour bunds on the slopes of the hill. In absence green cover on the leeward side of the hill, the rainwater runoff is high. To slow down the rain water, these contour bunds have been created. These will hold water as well as the run off soil and recharge the ground water table. 

 we kickstarted our community volunteering events. A batch of seven volunteers turned up inspite of solar eclipse. They volunteered for 2 hours where they dug out there counter bunds of 33, 42 & 50 ft on the slopes. As the monsoon has already arrived, we are hopeful these contour bunds will help in recharging the ground water and stop soil erosion. 

 Dr. Shubhalaxmi speaking at Tata Steel on the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity. Over 100 employees from Jamshedpur joined in to learn about Nature based solutions . 

 We installed plant name signages at the butterfly garden at St Anthony High School Malad (West) developed by us in collaboration with United Way Mumbai on 5 December 2019. We also conducted a butterfly awarness programme for 71 students of 7th standard on 13March 2020. The programme was conducted by Ms Wilma Dchuna.   The garden is well established and the plants have started blooming  

 On the occasion of women's day, in collaboration with corporate volunteers from DCB Bank, we developed a butterfly garden at St. Anne's high school, Malad.With the help of 99 proactive participants we were able to plant 100 saplings that will now grow into new homes for butterflies! The participants also indulged in activities like tree tagging, and understood the process of composting, and calculation of carbon sequestration.

 We conducted our monthly marine survey at Chimbai beach on 1 March 2020 in the inter tidal area of Chimbai beach. The number of sightings of sea anemones, flat worms and sponges during the survey were the highest compared to the earlier surveys. Other marine organisms like crabs, pistol shrimp, polychaete worm, gastropods, bivalves, amphipod and isopods were also observed during the survey.  

 We conducted our monthly marine survey at Chimbai beach on 16 February 2020 from 9.30 am to 1.15 pm. The rocky beach always surprises us with its diversity. We observed 100 of fiddler crabs peeping out from their ground holes and waving the claw. 100 of decorator worms were seen in a muddy patch. Sea Anemones, crabs, gastropods, bivalves, pistol shrimps, etc were observed during the survey.  

 An employee volunteering programme was conducted by Ladybird Environmental Consulting on 15 February 2020 in collaboration with United Way Mumbai in Mumbai at the Shree Govind Bal Shikshan Mandal School. The programme included establishing a butterfly garden by planting 100 butterfly attracting plant saplings of different species. It included nectar as well as larval host plants of butterflies. 

 We did a review visit at the Butterfly Habitat developed last year at Divya Vidyalaya, Jawhar on 11 February 2020. The habitat is well established and we were happy to see the caterpillars and pupa of butterflies in the habitat indicating that the butterflies have started using the habitat. The life cycle of tawny coster and common mormon were observed on the passion flower and lemon plants. The plants have grown well in height and were blooming. 

 An employee volunteering programme was conducted by Ladybird Environmental Consulting on 1 February 2020 in collaboration with United Way Mumbai in Delhi at the SDMC Pratibha Primary School. The programme included establishing a butterfly garden by planting 100 butterfly attracting plant saplings of different species. It included nectar as well as larval host plants of butterflies. 28 employees of FedEx helped in establishing the habitat by participating in the works like ground preparation and plantation   

 An employee volunteering programme was conducted by Ladybird Environmental Consulting on 25th January 2020 in collaboration with United Way Mumbai in Gurgaon. The programme included establishing a butterfly garden by planting 100 butterfly attracting plant saplings of 10 different species. It included nectar as well as larval host plants of butterflies. The employees of FedEx helped in establishing the habitat by participating in the works like ground preparation and plantation. 

 Chimbai Beach Marine Survey was conducted by the Ladybird Environmental Consulting at Chimbai Beach from 10.00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. by marine biologists Mr Satish Chennuri. During the survey we sighted different crabs, pistol shrimp, polychaete worms, gastropods and many other species  

 On 8 Jan 2020 we conducted a plantation and cleanup activity at Periyar Lake. The plantation was done for butterfly plants on the periphery of the lake after which the clean up was carried out. The programme was a part of Employee  Voluntering Programme of DCB Bank and was participated by a total 13 employees. 

 A group of 98 enthusiastic and hard working volunteers from DCB bank gathered at Nizampet lake Hyderabad for plantation and cleanup activity on 4th January 2020. They met at 10 am, thereafter a brief orientation, the volunteers were divided into two groups. The first group led by Gopal Bharti went to the Achari Kunta Lake to clean the lake area. They worked really hard and collected 90 Kg of wastes in 30 garbage bags.