Connect with Nature
Soak in the greenery, let an orchestra of birds serenade you and breathe in clean air as you stroll along Kalam Vanam, a dense forest with over 70,000 trees. Nurtured by Siruthuli for over two years, the forest is spread across 16 acres at the Anna University campus near Vadavalli. The latest addition to the greenery is another set of 10, 000 native varieties of pungan, vembu, vaagai and poovarasu. “We want to achieve the target of one lakh trees,” says V. Chandrasekar, apex member of Siruthuli.
To develop the forest, they followed the Miyawaki or the urban forestry method in phase I. “We have to strike a balance between infrastructure development, road widening works and environment. We found the answer in Miyawaki,” says C.G.S. Manion, another Siruthuli apex member.
Chandrasekar explains the plan for the green drive. Parts of forest were planted with neem and poovarasu, some other areas grew avenue trees,while a section of the land was used to grow a canopy of trees for forest bathing. A two-acre pond has also been created that has a capacity to store 70 million litres of rainwater. “We grow organic vegetables for the hostel canteen and the degradable waste generated at the campus is used as manure.
The forest canopy at Kalam Vanam has had a beneficial effect on the environment. “ Because of the dense greenery, whenever there is a passing cloud, we get the rains. The greenery has arrested soil erosion and improved ground water table levels greatly. For the drip irrigation of plants, we have no problems in pumping bore well water,”explains Chandrasekar.
The reason, says Manion, they have encouraged the planting of native species is that these adapt to native conditions of the soil and withstand the monsoons better. “One often notices non-local species such as the mayflower and flame of the forest getting uprooted because of their shallow trunks. These trees don’t support any nesting nor contribute to the biodiversity,” he says.
As a part of Pasumai Payanam, a green movement, Siruthuli has so far planted over 15 lakh trees in the city. “Another initiative called Pasumai Panchayat works with village panchayats. We sign a contract and take over open spaces and reserve sites. We get sponsors for fencing, to dig borewells, and for drip irrigation. We plant trees and then local stakeholders like an educational institution or an NGO maintain it. It’s win-win situation as the area becomes a public recreation spot for the village and improves bio-diversity. The model is running successfully in the panchayats of Arasur, Aythapengoundanur and Mylamppatti.”
Transplant and save
Osai Syed who spearheads ‘save the tree’ campaign, is overseeing the transplanting of a Banyan at Kavundampalayam. “ It has fallen because of the heavy rain. As every branch can sprout into tree, we plan to plant as many branches as possible in various reserve sites in the city. This way, one tree gives life to another 100 more,” he says. The monsoon has uprooted over 200 trees in the city. Recently at Madukkarai Taluk office, Syed and his team transplanted a pungan and two maramalli trees. “ Most of the native species that have been fallen are the ones planted in the last 10 or 12 years because they have been planted incorrectly. For native trees, we have to always dig a deep pit and then nurture them,” he insists.
He is happy that there is a growing awareness to save trees not just among the public but also amongst officials. “On Siruvani Road, for a road widening project, they had decided to cut 728 trees. But, we carried out a survey and pointed out that only 44 trees were obstructing the work. Now, 90 per cent of the work has been completed without any trees being cut. It’s a great achievement for us. You cannot cut trees indiscriminately. It provides home to so many life forms.”
Recently, he saved an arasa maram at Vadavalli. “ We transplanted it after a member of the public alerted us. This has been possible because of public participation in drives to save trees.”
Monsoon, he says, is a good time to initiate children into the habit of planting saplings. They can start with thulasi, nochi or aaduthoda in their own backyard as these are packed with health benefits. They can choose trees like neem, pungan and poovarasu alongthe periphery of their homes as these trees provide shade and are medicinal.
Catch them young
Ten thousand native trees in 297 schools in Coimbatore district is what environmentalist Yoganathan has achieved in the last two months. He has planted over three lakh trees across Tamil Nadu. “I recently bought a machine that helps me dig about 100 pits in an hour’s time. It has made my tree plantation drive quite easy now,” he says.
He is happy that over 100 schools have a compound wall and water facilities to maintain the plants. “And the arrival of the monsoons has come as a boon to those campuses where water is scarce. We must motivate children to keep planting trees. We worked with students of NSS, NCC, Green Force and Pasumai Manram for the green drive at schools.”
He also shares tips to students on grass mulching, leaf mulching and use of black stones to retain moisture for a newly planted tree. “In another 20 or 30 years, these trees will increase the green cover of the city in a big way.”
Bring a sapling to life
Look for a space where there are no underground pipelines or EB lines or a possibility of road expansion
If you pick a place closer home, you can take better care of what you have planted. You should plant a tree out of passion and not for publicity
You have to nurture the sapling for a minimum of two years after which they are on their own
Encourage children to get their hands dirty. Teach them to speak out if they see a tree being cut
