Anubhav for Class X

DANGS- The Outdoor Lab

Dangs is a predominantly tribal district and has the thickest forest cover in the state of Gujarat.  The forests have lofty teak trees rising tall and straight in the company of other associated flora like sadad, timru, khair, kalam, haldu, sisham etc. The healthy stock of bamboos would attract attention of any visitor to this place. The undulating terrain with rolling hills, plateaus, and small valleys make the borders with Western Ghats. The beautiful river Purna drains the area. Unlike most of Gujarat, this area is characterized by moderate, sometimes even heavy rain falls with the average annual fall of 2500 mm. Because of this, the forest belongs to the category of tropical moist deciduous.

The human population is represented by Bhils, Warlis, Konkanas, Dubdas, Kolchas etc. Dang supports a rich tribal culture in the form of houses, dresses, jewelry, agriculture, musical instruments, folk dances etc.

Learning Opportunities

Dangs district of Gujarat is the land of diversities and nature has blessed this region with a regular rainfall that lead to richness in biodiversity. Of course this richness is not really appreciated and unfortunately abused by both the forest dwellers as well as the outsiders. This is the best place to learn about the diversity in species including plants, animals, insects, reptiles etc.

With five prominent tribal inhabitants like Bhils, Warlis, Konkanas, Dubdas, Kolchas, this place also offers the cultural diversity; their music, customs, dwellings all are different from each other. The students will get chances to interact with few of these people and we will also try to reach them out through different activities.

The stories heard by the students in their childhood and the fictional movies that they might have seen on the tribes must have created varied impressions. However, this programme will give them a real life experience with the tribal and also give them immense awareness about the indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants, using the natural resources from forests for their own survival and other prevalent rituals and practices. How the religion or caste (tribe) based believes and customs protect the wealth of the forests can be a learning in conservation.

Image Gallery Class X