Meet The Tree Warriors On A Plantation Drive To Increase India’s Green Cover

IAmGurgaon, Feeding Two Birds With One Seed: Latika Thukral, 53-year-old Gurugram resident initiated ?IAmGurgaon', by the citizen, for the citizen initiative in 2009. The team of volunteers in collaboration with corporates, and municipal corporation, clean up the waste and give the place a green makeover. With their swachh efforts, the team has transformed a barren land into a lush greenpark called Aravalli Biodiversity Park. The park has over 1.2 lakh trees, 182 species of birds, and animals.

SankalpTaru Foundation, Giving An Opportunity To Plant Trees Virtually: Started by Apurva Bhandari and Balchand Bhat in 2012, SankalpTaru Foundation allow people to pledge and plant a tree online for just Rs. 149. With a click of a mouse, an individual can choose the type of tree they want to plant, and the location. After plantation, trees are geo-tagged and the GPS technology helps planters to stay connected with the tree and its growth.

The trees are either planted on the field of the farmers or schools or in cities. From Kashmir in the North, Tamil Nadu in the South to Rajasthan in the West, SankalpTaru is spread across 15 states in India. Till now, the organisation has planted seven lakh trees, with a survival rate of 95 per cent.

Swechha, An NGO Helping Delhi Breathe: Started in 2000 by Vimlendu Jha, with a campaign ?We for Yamuna', Swechha plants 5,000-7,000 trees every year. Over a period of 18 years, the voluntary organisation has planted 30,000 trees in Delhi-NCR with a survival rate of 90 per cent. Because of Swechha's green efforts, Airshed Park, an abandoned park in Delhi's Vasant Kunj got a new lease of life.

Under Swechha's campaign ?Monsoon Wooding', the team has planted over a 1,000 trees in Airshed Park alone. Along with this, the park has a butterfly garden, a kitchen garden, a 400 meter long trail through the budding forest, and compost set up in the middle. Today, the Airshed Park has 90 per cent of the green cover as opposed to less than 5 per cent of the green cover until Swechha gave it a new lease of life.

Green Yatra, Living The Dream Of Planting 10 Crore Trees By 2025: Started in 2010 by Pradeep Tripathi, Green Yatra, a Mumbai based NGO, is working with an aim to leave the world in a better state than they found it in. For the same, the organisation is running variety of campaigns, of which one is ?Pedh Lagao'. Under the initiative, the NGO plants variety of trees on behalf of individuals and corporates, across India. Once planted, the team of green warriors nurtures the trees for three years. Till date, the NGO has planted 1.3 lakh trees and aims to plant 100 million trees by 2025.

Peepal Baba, Living To His Name From Past 40 Years: Swami Prem Parivartan, started ?Give Me Trees', a hobby club in Pune as an 11-year-old boy, back in 1977. After 34 years, he got it registered and today it is the largest community based voluntary tree plantation campaign in India, having over 10,000 volunteers and a record of planting 20 million trees across India. Dedicated to planting and conserving trees, Swami Prem Parivartan started planting Peepal and Neem trees and got the name ?Peepal Baba'. Today, he has planted over 1.25 crore Peepal and Neem trees.

The team plants only native trees because their mantra is- plant only that tree which you can preserve. Apart from this, the organisation takes the responsibility of the planted tree for three years.