Protected Area Update for Maharashtra now in Marathi. To read the entire Newsletter, please click here.

Dear Friends, 

Vikalp Varta invites you to its 6th dialogue with Suresh Chhanga, Sarpanch (Head) of the Kunariya village, in Kachchh, Gujarat.
Suresh Chhanga, will share the story of how the Kunariya village panchayat by attempting self-governance, people’s participation and promoting inter-generational learning has been empowered to respond to the Covid crises. 
He will be joined by some of the members of the COVID response team of the village at the Varta. 

The session shall be moderated by Shrishtee Bajpai from Kalpavriksh, Pune. 

See you all on Saturday, 23rd May, from 4.00pm to 5.30pm. 
Zoom ID : 85608670080
Please feel free to share this invite within your individual networks, especially folks working in the ground in rural and semi-urban spaces. 

Thank you! Kind regards, Vikalp Varta Team 

To read the entire statement, please click here.

Recently, Sharmila Deo, author of the childrens’ book ‘Po Tricks His Foe’ did a book reading session At Comics and Brics, Pune. Sharing some images from the event!

Youth revive traditional crafts in Kachchh, India. To read the article, please click here.

To access the booklet in English please click here. For Hindi, please click here.

Article about visit to the the Amazon forest, and the Sapara indigenous tribal community.

To read the article, please click here.

KV helped organise and participated in the Alternative Economies Vikalp Sangam (AEVS, 2-5 January 2020), primarily put together by a group based in Auroville, Tamil Nadu. Nearly 100 people participated in this 4 day gathering, with plenty of discussion, group exercises, a public mela, and other methods, to share economic initiatives that put people and environment at the core rather than destroying them as the currently dominant ‘developmentalist’ economy does. This gathering was part of the ongoing series of Vikalp Sangams (alternative confluences) that KV is helping to coordinate. Reports and photos from the AEVS will be posted shortly

They brought the tree down. I watched in sadness as the
squirrel was left homeless. But, that moment was decisive. I decided to do something.

To read the article, please click here.

While being taken to watch animals in the wild is exhilarating, one cannot but long for the surge of excitement that chance encounters bring. To read the article, please click here.