Green Committees, Mobile App: Tamil Nadu Govt on Tree Planting Spree, Ropes in School Students – News18

On a mission to increase the forest cover from 23.69% to 33%, the Tamil Nadu government is on a tree planting spree, under which, it has so far raised seven crore saplings, according to the forest department.

Forest department secretary and additional chief secretary Supriya Sahu pointed out that the Green Tamil Nadu Mission fact sheet for 2023-24 aims to have 1,931 nurseries. Around 7 crore saplings of native species such as Syzygium, Ailanthus, Pongamia, Jackfruit, Palmyra, Ficus, Tamarind, Red Sanders, Sandalwood and Melia Dubia.

The saplings are to be planted on 1,000 sq km and also provide “green jobs”, the secretary said.

“Green Tamil Nadu Mission going in full steam. For example, Namakkal district has raised 7 lakh native seedlings in 11 nurseries for plantation across districts. Apart from greening Tamil Nadu the mission is creating thousands of green jobs by providing employment especially to rural women,” said Sahu.

The forest department is involving school students –- to begin with, the district forest officials have been asked to link forest nurseries with nearby schools.

This would ensure that the students get a chance to visit nurseries and learn about various plant species. They can also participate in filling bags and planting trees. This would certainly lead to a momentum where young impressionable minds will be more sensitive towards environment, she added.

The forest department is setting up green committees in the state and districts for protection and management of trees.

“For the smooth running of the mission, it is mandatory to monitor the nursery activities and evaluate them based on the feedback from the nursery in-charges. It will reduce the risk of seedling damages and help the department to make proactive decisions,” Sahu said.

Therefore, a mobile app to collect data on all activities on a daily basis has been provided to forest in charges to help them track the plant status remotely.

The daily report images from one particular nursery can be selected and can review the nursery activities and plant growth so that the department can support the nurseries if they need any additional support, she explained.