Adopt a tree this monsoon!

The Economic Times , Sunday, September 01, 2013
Correspondent : PTI
KOLKATA: Teenager Sujash Goenka got a unique birthday gift from his dad this monsoon -- a geo-tagged image of apple tree saplings planted in his name in a far-off Uttarakhand village.

Instead of throwing party or gifting him gadgets like other dotting fathers, business consultant Sunil decided to adopt trees in his son's name which can be seen by anyone on Google Earth.

What left the youngster emotive was when he learnt that these trees are part of a national campaign to not only fight global warming but also help marginal and BPL farmers earn extra bucks to support their livelihood by selling fruits.

This noble idea of planting trees and then asking people to adopt it by paying for the cost of the sapling and its after-care is started by a group of individuals in Kolkata under the banner of 'Sustainable Green Initiative' (SGI).

Eminent among those who have adopted such trees include celebrated author Ruskin Bond and advertising guru Swapan Seth.

As proof of plantation, each sapling is photographed and geo-tagged with the longitude and latitude metadata embedded into a digital image.

The image is then uploaded onto a public database and can be viewed on Google Earth or any exif map viewers.

"Planting trees is the most simplest and easiest way to combat climate change. But what we are also doing is to show how various tree products like fruits can reduce poverty and aid livelihood. So the benefits of planting trees are two-fold," SGI founder Raj Mohan told PTI.

In partnership with local NGOs, they kicked off their maiden plantation drive with 2000 apple trees in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand earlier this year.

TREES 2 LAST

"We identified fallow lands where the trees could be planted. The farmers are now nurturing the saplings so that it matures into a fruit-yielding tree for them," says the middle-aged entrepreneur turned green crusader.

Besides farmlands in rural areas, they are also spreading greenery in cities like Kolkata.

At Bidhan Sishu Udyan, a children's park, Lions Club International Dist 322B1 came forward to sponsor the planting of 1000 trees.

Located at Ultadanga, one of Kolkata's most highly polluted residential areas, the grove of neem and fruit trees in the park would not only purify the air children breathe in but also provide them shade.

"We are committed to the Lions Clubs International's charter to protect the environment by cleaning the environment, planting trees, recycling and educating others," says Rama Bhatia, district governor of Lions Clubs International in Kolkata.

 A tree has the potential to sequester about a ton of carbon over 50 years and processes enough oxygen needed for two persons in their whole life.

To address the issue of climate change, the National Mission for a Green India planned by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests aims to double the area to be taken up for afforestation in the next ten years.

At the campus of Mulvany House, an old-age home in north Kolkata SGI is planting 500 trees of banana, papaya, custard apples, chikoos, guavas, pomegranates, coconut and mango.

"The senior citizens living in this centre would benefit as the trees would partially offset their food and nutrition costs," Mohan says.

Similarly, in Barrackpore few kms away from Kolkata, 1000 trees are coming up at Udayan, a residential centre for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients' children.

"The produce obtained from these trees will aid in the upkeep and support of the children while providing them a more cleaner, healthier and beautiful environment to be a part of," he says.

With their crowd-sourcing like model for getting funds for planting trees, SGI aims at planting one billion trees in the next few years.

 
SOURCE : http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-01/news/41663364_1_climate-change-google-earth-national-mission
 


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