NGO, Gujarat Forest Dept encourages students from 200 schools to plant 45,000 trees – Times of India

AHMEDABAD: At a time when overall forest cover across the globe is diminishing and environmentalists have underlined the urgent need for expanding it, the Gujarat state forest department along with an Ahmedabad-based NGO, has undertaken a unique initiative to encourage school students to plant and nurture some 45,000 trees.

Dr KR Shroff Foundation (KRSF) has roped in students from across 200 schools in Sabarkantha and Arvalli districts to plant the trees as part of the ‘One Child One Tree’ project.
The initiative is supported by the district primary education officials and forest department officers at various ranks, in both these districts. So far, some 25,000 trees have already been planted under this initiative by children.

“The idea behind the project is to engage the students into conserving the environment by making them plant trees and instilling a sense of responsibility towards the trees by making them nurture the trees. Each student will plant one tree whether it is in the school campus, their village or near their home and eventually take care of the tree, water, and nurture it on a daily basis and ensure that the trees survive,” explains Uday Desai, President, KRSF.
Last year, approximately 4,000 trees were planted as a pilot project by KRSF in conjunction with the forest department. The survival rate of these trees is 93%.
To ensure that the project is steered in the right direction after the planting of trees is done, the state government has also developed a portal on which pictures documenting the various stages of the tree plantation and its growth are uploaded from time to time. This helps monitor the progress of the project at multiple stages and ensures that the survival rate of the trees is high.