THE LOSS OF TREES IN OUR ECOSYSTEM

Trees are the most valuable assets of human life as they are the ones keeping us alive. But now a days unnecessary cutting of trees to build up rocky structures is going through the roof. Our nature has lost a colossal amount of trees under construction of buildings, new roads, new rails, and a lot more reasons. Some people are now realizing this and have started to grow more and more trees so that future generations won’t have to suffer. People are now growing trees wherever they can. A similar incident was seen in Pune, where a barren land was unbelievably transformed into an urban jungle.

MIRACLE WORKERS OF PUNE

A group of nature-loving people who named themselves the Anand Van Mitra Mandal (AVMM), has successfully transformed a barren land in Pune into a beautiful and filled jungle. The land was more than 30 acres and the whole place was a mess. The land was infertile, barren, and was rocky. Even the construction companies used to dump their waste there and the place became a witness to all sorts of illegal works. These workers started to see why it is important to transform the place and began to include other citizens, conservationists, and whoever wanted to volunteer for the special cause. 65-year-old Praveen Kumar Anand led the AVMM and started to plant saplings in the open area. The team approached the local citizens and explained to them the importance of having the place transformed. It was a tough task for them to pull people in this but they managed to get a lot of people on their side.
The AVMM faced a lot of difficulties while transforming the place. Water supply was a prick in their way. They had to travel long distances and bring water in cans to give it to the newly planted saplings. So they asked people to volunteer with water tanker services. They attracted the attention of the Forest Department. Impressed by their initiative, they helped AVMM by providing a fence and a gate around the 30-acre land so there is no trespassing and no one would damage the saplings. As the protection of saplings was an important thing, the group recruited children living in the slums nearby.

THE ANAND VAN

The Mitra Mandal managed to grow 10,000 trees in the past few years. The Anand Van has around 80 to 90 different varieties of trees. The variety would attract a lot of new bird species that the place has never seen. One of the members of the AVMM said that they grew Morus Alba, the mulberry plant, and saw many bird species visiting the mini forest. The survival of the jungle and the saplings depend upon the post plantation caring and the methods of planting. According to studies, 95% of trees could survive considering the scientific method used to grow the trees. The Anand Van should be considered as a role model for what can be done to the empty and barren lands instead of turning them into dumpsters!