A Small Step towards Green Earth - 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 country side. In the arid regions there are thousands of acres of barren land waiting to be covered in green once again. With the objective to increase the green cover of the water starved and drought prone regions, VSSM has initiated Tree Plantation Drive in Banaskantha district. 

We started this campaign as we felt that the water crisis in Banaskantha is worsening with each passing day. The people have been extracting water from the underground and that has caused the depletion of underground water levels. The organization has been desilting lakes in order to increase water percolation. At the same time, trees bring rain as well as it can be home to many vulnerable fauna.

In each village selected for plantation drive, Vicharta Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM) along with the people of the village, selects a tree loving, caring and compassionate individual to look after the planted trees. It is this individual’s responsibility to water the trees, dig small trenches around the tree to catch water, ensure they are provided home remedies to fight disease and so forth. The remuneration to these individuals is paid from the contribution received from VSSM’s well-wishers. It is our understanding that if the appointed person is paid well, he/she would be committed towards his responsibilities and the trees will remain well looked after. The tree caretaker is supposed to make efforts towards getting the land cleared, digging the pits, planting the saplings, giving them water in regular intervals as well as provide fertilizers to the saplings. This Tree Care Taker is paid by VSSM. We have 25 tree caretakers who have been employed by VSSM.

So far, we could plant 34,626 saplings in the last two years.

We could plant 34,626 trees so far since 2019.

We are targeting to plant 1 lakh trees in 2021.