[ecis2016.org] Despairing of the rampant felling of trees in Bengaluru, software engineer Kapil Sharma launched an NGO called ‘Say Trees’. Since then, Sharma has, with citizen participation, planted 60,000 saplings across cities in India
Kapil Sharma is a sentimental young man. When he saw trees being wantonly cut to make way for development projects in his beloved Bengaluru, it broke his heart. It also spurred this software engineer to get proactive.
You are reading: Techie turns green warrior
Sharma founded an NGO called Say Trees, which is responsible for planting 60,000 saplings across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi and Gurgaon, in the last three years.
“I came to Bengaluru from Chhattisgarh 14 years ago and loved the green cover and pleasant weather in this city. I used to commute 40 kms to and from home and office, and I felt terrible every time I saw a tree being felled along the entire stretch. At times, I tried to intervene but it was futile,” Sharma recalls.
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Sharma planted his first tree in 2007, in the compound of his landlord’s home, where he used to live. He also planted trees in different places across the city on weekends. Slowly, he met like-minded people who supported his enthusiasm and commitment and in 2013, Sharma registered Say Trees Environmental Trust as an NGO. Today, the organisation has two core members across the country and ten committed volunteers.
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Community participation
“We have planted trees with an 80-per cent survival rate. We plant saplings around 6 to 8 feet tall and two to three years old since they have a better chance of surviving. We zero in on schools and community parks and other land begging to have some green cover,” reveals Sharma.
After they select a location, Sharma and his green warriors study the soil conditions and other environmental factors before choosing the types of trees that can revive the ecosystem of the area. The trees they most commonly plant are mahogany, honge, jackfruit, jamun, bamboo, tabebuia rosea, mango, Indian almond, nagalinga, neem and gulmohar.
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The NGO then clears the designated land and gets large pits dug to plant the saplings. During summer, citizens nurture and water the saplings. While they do this, the NGO’s volunteers explain the importance of green cover, which connects citizens to the cause and they keep coming back, explains Sharma, who has represented India at the World Forestry Congress hosted by the United Nations in Durban, South Africa, in 2015, and also received the CSR Green Leadership Award in August 2016.
Rural thrust
Pushing boundaries, quite literally, Say Trees has started plantation drives in rural areas, especially fruit trees, to help farmers earn a sustainable source of income. One of its flagship projects is in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh, where its pilot project supports 25 farmers.
“Planting fruit trees gives farmers an additional source of income and its helps in the precipitation of rain, which in turn helps rain-fed crops,” says Sharma, whose has his next batch of 6,000 saplings ready.
Paradise regained
Bangalore, once a clean and cool city, will hopefully regain its reputation, in some localities, at least. Thanks to Say Trees, areas such as Koramangala, Whitefield and K R Puram are reclaiming some of their tree cover lost to development projects. The NGO has also planted saplings along the periphery of 15 lakes in the city.
Sharma is also creating two forests in Bangalore. He and his team are using the Miyawaki method of planation, a Japanese technique that grows forests ten times faster than traditional methods. “Juggling a full-time job and NGO work can be tough sometimes but if one is passionate, one can balance the two. There are many frustrating moments but when I see a tree blooming, I forget everything else. When I see an empty space, I instinctively want to make it green,” he says.
Source: https://ecis2016.org/.
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Source: https://ecis2016.org
Category: Lifestyle
