One of my first assignments as a reporter was to attend a school function presided by then Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Prof. SaifuddinSoz. Among the speakers was a 15-year-old boy who had been admonished by a neighbour after he questioned the cutting down of a neem tree. He called upon his schoolmates to gift saplings to each other on birthdays.

We’ve unfailingly observed World Forestry Day and World Water Day with much fanfare for many years. But, how far have we actually come?

Just the other day, news emerged from Bhutan. Its citizens planted 1,08,000 saplings to welcome the newest member of the royal family, born to King Jigme KhesarNamgyelWangchuk and Queen Jetsun Pema.

By joining the initiative, the country’s Prime Minister showed the world how environmental initiatives can be prioritised. Not just that. The Bhutan Constitution makes it obligatory to keep 60 per cent of the country under forest cover. Another report stated how people in this Buddhist nation nurture greenery by stopping during daily walks or drives to water plants on the hillsides and in the valleys.

Will we do the same in our respective towns and cities? The challenge to green our surroundings may seem daunting. We have the readily-available excuses of water shortage, drought or floods. But we have also seen isolated cases where people have launched campaigns and planted saplings to reduce the carbon footprint and save the planet.

If we continue to damage the environment at a faster pace than we take conservation and preservation measures, and disrespect Nature rather than nurture it, how will we ever solve the problems of climate change?

In Bhutan, if everyone from the ordinary man to the man at the top can care for the country and plant a sapling, why can’t we? It would perhaps do good to get rid of celebrations inside air-conditioned halls and work in all earnestness to make trees our friends forever.

That young boy’s plea 25 years ago has obviously been lost, with issues such as crime and politics, sports and films, food and fashion taking centre stage. There is, however, some good news too. The maximum increase in forest cover in the country has been observed in Tamil Nadu. This offers hope for reversing the damage. There’s a long way to go, but why not start here and now?

Need to green

The India State Forest Report-2015 states that although the total forest cover has increased to 21.34 per cent of the country’s geographical area (as against the required 33 per cent), around 2,510 sq. km of very dense forests have been wiped out, and around 2,254 sq. km of mid-dense forest cover have been turned into non-forest lands in the past two years. The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana have suffered huge loss of forest cover.