Field notes, programme updates, public events, and recent publications from the Mission's work at Shivanahalli. Most recent first.
The pre-monsoon showers have begun. The first kalyani has risen by nearly a foot in a week, and the bamboo grove is putting on its annual growth spurt — a metre in a single day is not unusual through June.
Volunteers have been checking the nest boxes installed last year. So far, four boxes show clear signs of occupancy. We will share more details in the coming weeks.
The Indian Institute of Science has published its Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services study for the Ramakrishna Mission campus at Shivanahalli, as ENVIS Technical Report 216.
The report quantifies, for the first time, what four decades of forest regeneration on the campus has produced — ~₹826 million in ecosystem service value, ~11,000 tonnes of carbon stored, and a measurable cooling effect across the campus relative to its surrounding buffer.
Read more about the study in our walk through the Vana, or write to us for a copy of the full report.
Dr. [Name] has joined the volunteer rota at Sri Sarada Devi Chikitsa Kendra, bringing paediatric care to the Sunday clinic for the first time. The clinic now offers, on rotation, paediatric, gynaecology, ophthalmology, dentistry, dermatology, and diabetic care — all free of cost.
Doctors interested in joining the rota are warmly welcomed. Please write to shivanahalli@rkmm.org.
We are organising a community plantation day in the new buffer area on the western edge of the Vana. About 300 native saplings to be planted, with food and tea provided.
Open to all. Please register by writing to shivanahalli@rkmm.org at least a week in advance, so we can plan transport from Bengaluru if needed.
The Hindu published a long-form profile of Brahmananda Vana in its Sunday magazine, describing the forty-year regeneration of the 130-acre forest and its role as a buffer to Bannerghatta National Park.
A camera trap installed near the inner forest path has captured footage of a leopardess and two cubs feeding on a deer carcass. The presence of breeding leopards is, ecologically, an important signal — it indicates that prey populations are healthy, the corridor to Bannerghatta is functioning, and the forest is large and quiet enough to support apex predators raising young.
The footage will be featured on the Vana tour page once it has been processed.