Our Awards and Contribution
Chicalim Bio-Crusaders is a local initiative of the villagers of Chicalim, a historical and heritage-rich village in south Goa’s Mormugao Taluka. This group was formed in August 2018 by Mr. Cyril A. Fernandes, a rights activist as an initiative to document the biodiversity of the village. Till date they have 118 members who work daily to document the local birds, wild animals, fishes, flowers, trees, insect and all living things found and cohabitating in Chicalim, Dabolim and St. Jacinto Island within the jurisdiction of the Village Panchayat of Chicalim.
To promote the heritage of Chicalim, the group organises heritage walks showcasing the heritage sites existing in their villages. There are three variant of these customised walks, titled ‘Walking with the Caveman’, ‘Walk of the Pearl’ and ‘Walk of the Rocks’ respectively. These walks are aimed at school and college students to inculcate the love for Goa’s heritage amongst them.
Their documentation of the biodiversity of Chicalim. Dabolim and Sao Jacinto has been uploaded on the international ‘iNaturalist site’ where they have a page of their own. All the major observations are uploaded for research purpose among the international scientist and other communities.
Till date, members of Chicalim Bio-crusader group have uploaded over 300 observations of birds, animals, flowers, fishes, plants and other relevant biodiversity features on the iNaturalist site and some of their observations have qualified to research grade.
Events such as Van Mahotsav celebration and Community fellowship with marginalised section of societies such as garbage workers are also carried out by the organisation.
The role of Chicalim Bio-Crusaders in protecting the local environment has come into appreciation from the statutory bodies of the state government. Their Convenor Cyril Fernandes was presented a letter of appreciation by the member Secretary of the Goa State Biodiversity Board for organising an awareness campaign in Chicalim -Sancoale belt to stop the extraction of ‘Haddes’ or the oyster shell rocks from the Sancoale bay which were being exploited unscientifically by locals and causing huge harm to the local river Zuari's waterbed.
The Bio-Crusaders also promote the heritage of their village through competitions held on various topics. Their first such competition was titled Keli-Bondachi Bhaji promoting the traditional vegetables of Goa. Their second competition attracted the most attention from local as well as global Goans when they ventured out to promote the traditional Konkani ‘Parkonnem’ (Riddles) through a social media contest. There have been three annual editions of this contest and have made Chicalim Bio-Crusaders a popular entity among the Goan diaspora globally.
The Chicalim Bio-crusaders, in pursuit of protecting, preserving and promoting the history, heritage and the biodiversity of their village also seek legal remedies whenever they find that the rules are broken and the environment, biodiversity and the local existing heritage is at threat from unplanned development of the government. They have frequently knocked on the doors of the judiciary through public interest litigations (PILs) to protect their village from illegalities that threaten the ecosystem of the village.
Their work is voluntary and funded by the members themselves.
Chicalim Bio-crusaders can be contacted at :
Address: G-1, Block –B, Island View Aptts, Alto-Chicalim, Post Chicalim, Mormugao Goa-403711.
Contact nos: 9422446139/7758826139