Bengaluru November 25, 2017: Samartha Bharata organised state-wide mega campaign Koti Vruksha Abhiyan’s (Planting of One Crore Saplings) valedictory ceremony of First phase was held today at Mythic Society, Bengaluru. The Campaign was held from June 5 to August 15, 2017 across the state.
Nearly 125 NGOs of the state were felicitated for their contributions for ecological conservation, which were part of this Koti Vruksha Abhiyan.
Eminent Scientist Dr TV Ramachandra of IISc, RSS Prath Karyavah N Tippeswamy, RSS Pranth Seva Pramukh and mentor of Kotivruksha Abhiyan Ganapati Hegade, Tree Doctor Vijay Nishant, Krishna Gouda of Samartha Bharata addressed the gathering.
Volunteers from NGO’s working on Ecological Conservation expressed concerns in finding a suitable roadmap and permanent solution for all the ecological and environmental issue. ‘Increasing the Green Cover of our mother earth is one of the major solutions ahead. Hence Koti Vruksha Abhiyan is a timely significant campaign organised by Samartha Bharata’, said a volunteer.
About Koti Vruksha Abhiyan:
• Total Plants Planted:
• Duration: Kotivruksha Abhiyan Campaign was From June 5th (World Environment Day) to August 15, 2017 (Independence Day).
• Total number of Saplings Planted – 14,09,921
• Total number of SeedsBalls Prepared – 52,20,550
• Total number of SeedsBall Tossing – 44,82,830
• Volunteers registered: 28,011
• No of NGO’s joined the Campaign: 368
• Places: Planting was done at appropriate places, suitable public bare places or open fields and also at private lands of persons and institutions, at all Taluks of Karnataka. Hence the campaign has reached all Taluks.
• Campaign Mode:
Campaign had 3 types for planting drive:
1. Direct planting of Sapling.
2. Direct use of Seeds for germination -Seedling (ಬೀಜ ಬಿತ್ತನೆ) .
3. Throwing Seed Balls at suitable bare areas.
• Selection of Saplings: Plants which ecologically plays a significant role were selected for the sapling plantation campaign. The species was variable from place to place based on local geography. As per suggestions by experts, few plants such as Acacia, Eucalyptus etc were excluded from this campaign.
• Involvement of Citizens: From students to Techies, from street vendors to software professionals, Movie Personalities to Journalists were part of this major campaign of 1 crore sapling planting drive. Campaign is supported by several Schools, Colleges, NGOs, Corporate companies, local youth organisations, Temple trusts, Ecological forums and also thousands of volunteers at individual scale. Forest department of both Central and State Government assured their full support for our campaign by providing saplings at district/zonal level. Ministry of Railways also extended support by providing the place for planting on either sides of Railway tract at specific areas in the state. Citizens supported this Campaign by
1. Planting of Saplings
2. Providing Tree Guards.
3. Identifying the new Locations for plantation.
4. Donation for Tree Guards/Plants/Water/Fertilizer & etc
5. Proper Maintenance support for 3 years.
6. Water Supply arrangement on alternate days for plants.
7. Preparation and throwing of seedballs.
• Seed Ball Preparation workshops: Seed Ball Preparation workshops and camps is underway at many parts of the state in collaboration with likeminded NGOs such as Utthishta Bharata.
• Social Media platforms were effectively used for this campaign with Infographics and videos promoting the spirit of ecological conservation. “Selfie with Plant” is such a concept; any volunteer can upload his/her photo in Twitter or Facebook with a hashtag #SamarthaBharata. Thousands of youth uploaded their selfies with Plant.
For more details: www.samarthabharata.org
