Raising A Million Trees - Participatory Tree Plantation Campaign

Our work with the nomadic communities involves continuous travelling across Gujarat. At some point, we have been witness to the changing landscape across the countryside. Travelling through the parched regions we see thousands of acres of barren land waiting to be covered in green once again. To increase the green cover of the water-starved and drought-prone regions, VSSM initiated massive Tree Plantation campaign in some of the aridest regions it works.

Some salient features of this campaign are

• The entire campaign is carried out in partnership with the village leadership and panchayat. There is some contribution from the village in terms of sharing the remuneration of the person appointed to take care of the planted trees. The village body has to spare land to carry out the plantation and make provision for water. The leadership will be responsible for the survival of each planted tree.
• Care will be taken to ensure that the trees selected are ones that can easily grow in the region, ones that have always been around/native to the region, are shade- giving, ones that birds prefer to perch and nest upon, flower well, bear fruits to attract the birds and the bees. The trees that are planted these days do grow fast, but birds do not prefer to build their nests on it. VSSM got in touch with Forest Department for procuring tree saplings at no or low cost.