Gir National Park Sasan Forest Jungle Asiatic Lions Junagadh Gujarat India

IBM to help create 'Little Africa' in Gujarat.

In a bid to provide employment to youth of the African-origin Sidi community settled in Saurashtra, Gujarat government has planned to create a ‘Little Africa’ on the fringes of Gir forest by developing a theme-based resort.

The resort to be developed on 25 acres of land would be promoted by global giant IBM. The tribal development department of the state government has entered into a tie-up with IBM India for the project.

“The Rs 10-crore project, excluding the cost of land, would be fully funded by the Gujarat government. IBM will provide expertise to select a private partner to run the resort. It will also provide consultancy to market this ‘Little Africa’ across the world to lure maximum tourists,” said Per Yorgansen, project manager, IBM Denmark, who is in Ahmedabad for IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program.

Pallavi Shukla, senior consultant to the state government for the project, said that development work would start by March 2010 and the resort would be functional in three years.

“Around 200 Sidi youth will get direct employment. Besides, there would be plenty of indirect employment opportunities as a ‘gram haat’ to display Sidi handicraft will be set up. Every evening there would be cultural events featuring Sidi ‘Dhamal’ dance troupe, which is very popular,” said Shukla.

The resort would be a replica of a typical Sidi village. Even interiors of all the 30 rooms would have an African touch. A museum would display various facets of Sidi life in and around Gir Jungle Forest, especially their interface with the Asiatic Lions.

The Sidi community came to India from East Africa as slaves around 500 years ago. Their population is currently 10,000 in Gujarat, concentrated mainly on the periphery of the Gir forest in Junagadh district

Junagadh District News – Sasan Forest,Gir Sanctuary

Gir Sanctuary to be closed from June 16 to Oct 15.

Schools have reopened and people are trudging back to routine lives.

But, it's now the turn of Asiatic Lions of Gir to go on vacation as Gir sanctuary will be closed from June 16 to October 15 for visitors.

"According to Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, all sanctuaries and national parks are closed for visitors for a certain period," explained Conservator of Forests M M Sharma.

"Apart from the fact that jungle tracks are not conducive for vehicle travel in monsoon, the main reason for closure is that this period is mating season for lions," Sharma added.

Junagadh District News – Gir Wildlife Sanctuary Sasan Gir

Asiatic Lions population in Bhavnagar increases to 25 from 14 in four years.

Within four years of the last census in 2005, further dispersion of Asiatic lions on a large- scale in areas of Bhavnagar district has been observed. From 14 in the last census, which was a record in itself, the number of lions in the green areas of the coastal belt is now 25.

The forest department has already considered declaring nearly 200 square kilometres in the district with green cover area as conserved forest for the lions. The district is located at least 100 km away from Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, the home of the Asiatic lion.

In the last census, 14 big cats had been found in and around Bhavnagar. Our recent estimate puts the number at 25,” said K Randhava, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Bhavnagar (Junagadh Circle).

The total number of lions in and around the sanctuary in the census was put at 359. Like Bhavnagar, dispersion has been observed towards Sutrapada (Junagadh district) and Barada (Porbandar district) in recent years. With the lion population on the rise, their further dispersion in search of more space and food has not been ruled out.

In grasslands and open areas of Palitana, Mahuva, Talaja, Gariyadhar, Ghogha and Vallabhipur, lions are being spotted frequently. “This is a stretch that runs adjacent to Gir East,” Randhava added.

The forest department believes that open grasslands and forest areas, where the nilgai is also found in large numbers, provide a suitable environment for lion habitat. Locals, especially farmers, are more than happy to adjust with the new visitors, as the presence of lions has controlled the nilgai population that poses a threat to the standing crops.

Sasan Gir National Park Junagadh District Tourism Gujarat India

This Navratri, Forest Dept tells a musical tale of conservation :-

Sasan Gir Maan Garje Sawaj, Dala Matthe Vanraj. Ache Hariyalu Gujarat. Game Game Upwan shobe. Chede, Cheda Ugya Jhad. Ache Hariyulu Gujarat…

"In Sasan Gir roars the lion with long mane, this is green Gujarat; where every village flaunts a garden, every corner a tree, this is green Gujarat…" goes the song penned by Natwar Hadau Gujarat Ecological Education Research (GEER) Foundation and District Forest Officer (DFO) C N Patel.

It is one of the many songs that have become popular in Junagadh and Bhavnagar districts, this Navratri.

For the first time in Gujarat, the State Forest Department has struck a different chord to spread awareness about the flora and fauna of the state during the ongoing Wildlife Week.

They have distributed more than 100 CDs containing garba songs in all the forest circles in the state and even a few garba organisers in Gandhinagar.

Sasan Gir National Park Junagadh District Gujarat India

If you are in the Gir forests to watch the Asiatic lion, don’t be surprised to find women forest guards in the woods. It’s another male bastion which has been busted.

Gujarat forest department has sought to break the barrier, by introducing for the first time a large number of women guards and foresters in the jungles.

Of the 307 forest guards recruited through special camps in districts over the last one year, 51 are women. And out of 180 foresters recruited at four zonal camps held this May in Surat, Junagadh, Vadodara and Gandhinagar as many as 44 are women.

Till these recruitment, there were just two women working in the forests and both were Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers. Anita Karn is posted in Junagadh and Aradhana Sahu in Mehsana.

Fourteen women foresters have been posted in Gir and their boss, Anita Karn, is happy to have them around. “They have been quite useful in gathering information, carrying out raids and talking to womenfolk in the forests,” she told TOI over phone.

Aradhana Sahu added: “Lady Forest staffers are proving to be extremely useful in every sector, be it joint forest management, in which involvement of village women is critical, or guiding tourists in the wild and guarding wildlife.”

Forest officials in Gandhinagar say the women were recruited on the basis of their physical fitness and knowledge of neighboring forest areas. The physical test included long jump, high jump and rock-climbing. “We are happy such a large number of women applied for the jobs and also made it in the end,” said a senior forest official.