Planting trees for the elephants and the forest

Last week, we shared our first story featuring Mr. Bijaya Kumar Dash where we heard about his love for elephants, gentle creatures from the forest.

This week’s story tells about another tree-planting event organized by Mr. Dash, in celebration of the 69th Vana Mahotsav (a tree-planting festival in India*).

The celebration took place at the foothills of Bankamundi Hill of Ghantabaja Reserve Forests near Tamanda, India. This village exists within the Dhenkanal Forest Range.

The Collective Initiation For Social Solidarity (CISS), an environmental not-for-profit, and Dhenkanal Forest Range worked together to organize this tree-planting event, attended by all Anganwadi  Women Workers (ICDS staff) of Kandabindha GP, forest guards, and elephant squad members.

Mr. Dash shared, “This planting event was a unique event for us because the women participating showed keen interest in planting trees to conserve elephants and forests”.

According to Mr. Dash, women in the area are usually focused on household tasks, making this an outstanding event for the group. One of the participants said, “This event allowed us to plant a tree with our own hands and to observe the forest, the mountains, and the water bodies, from a very close distance, together with the forest personnel. It was an interesting and memorable event”.

This tree-planting event was a great success and was even reported in the regional newspaper.

*Van Mahotsav has come a long way since it was first established. What started as a loose movement, evolved to a crusade to save Mother Earth. Eventually, it got recognized as a celebration of life in several states in India, and finally as a festival. Today, it is recognized by many states as a national holiday.