Last week, Tulasi Gowda (72) was awarded the Padma Shri for planting nearly 30,000 saplings in Uttara Kannada district. At the time, Instagram feeds were swamped with pet photos following a trend initiated by Plant a Tree Co.; they stated they would plant a tree for every image they receive, a request - it was debunked a fraud claim-that many had complied with.
This has now managed to evoke a tree planting fervour in citizens. In tandem with this idea, we speak to environment organisations that one can volunteer with to plant trees in Delhi-NCR 'for real'.
MAINTAINING A GREEN COVER
Founded in 2015 by Mohit Saini, Hara Jeevan is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in the city that seeks to plant trees and address the issue of waste management. A network of city volunteers help them carry out plantation drives.
Known for planting trees in small patches across the Capital, they are currently building an urban forest in Vikaspuri. "Tree plantation is an easy thing to do but the maintenance is difficult. This is why we only carry out plantations in areas where there is someone to look after the planted trees," says Manisha Saini, CEO of Hara Jeevan.
INCREASING THE TREE COUNT
Swami Prem Parivartan, known as Peepal Baba, founded Give Me Trees Trust - one of the largest communities that plants and preserves trees in India. "Our basic philosophy is to increase the tree count. When we increase the number of trees, green spaces grow, biodiversity escalates, the groundwater table rises, and you will have a better monsoon," he shares.
With a volunteer base of over 16,000, they have planted more than 22 million saplings in India, with 30 lakh native trees like Neem, Indian rosewood, Peepal (Sacred fig), Pilkhan, and Karanj Papdi in Delhi-NCR.
EMBRACING MIYAWAKI
Running since 2010, Green Yatra's 'Pedh Lagao' initiative has been working towards conserving nature. They carry out tree plantations in Delhi with a focus on the Miyawaki method (wherein two to four trees are planted per square metre).
"Cities are turning into concrete jungles. We specifically focus on developing forests through Miyawaki through, which you can plant about 12,000 trees on an acre of land," says Durgesh Gupta, co-founder. Their projects include 3,000 tree plantations in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and 7,000 trees in Mayur Vihar Phase-3.
REACHING A MILLION
SankalpTaru Foundation focuses on afforestation and reforestation attempts to address key environmental issues. Founded in 2011 by Apurva Bhandari, the organisation has planted over 26 lakh trees across India. In Delhi, they have been planting trees in patches of Aravalli Range and Sohna Road, Gurugram.
They also focus on building rural livelihoods by helping farmers plant fruit-bearing trees along with regular crops for extra income. "We wish to expand our plantations to two million trees in 2022, creating urban forests across India," says Bhandari.