Let’s Go Green! Planting Trees to Make Mangaluru Greener and Cooler
Mangaluru: The Tree Lovers (TTL) is a voluntary group formed by nature lovers and environmentalists of Mangaluru. It was Mr. Daniel Tauro who initiated this idea in the year 2010. He has been actively engaged in hands on planting of trees in and around Mangaluru City for the past few years. His target was around 200 tree saplings to be planted annually, during the months of June and July. These saplings were to be watered after the month of January twice a week till the rains begin. This initiative has been successfully carried out and more than 80% have survived. His wife, Mrs.Sara Crasta is also like-minded and helps him in his dream to make Mangaluru greener. I have seen many groups in Mangaluru who do similar work. But, consistency and commitment every year is what these groups lack. Planting without taking care of the saplings for first 2 years during summer is just a waste of precious resources.
I joined the TTL group about a couple of years ago, helping them in whatever possible way including planting and watering. This year, with Whatsapp becoming a popular tool, many more volunteers have joined the group. Whatsapp has been an effective tool for coordination and communication with all concerned. This group was formed along with his close friends who used to cooperate with him every year, for past 8 years.
This year, the group has grown larger and stronger. It has set a target of 500 tree saplings to be planted in 2018. As of date, about 350 saplings have been planted out of which, 100 have been planted at Pandeshwar Police quarters, Old Kent Road, Karkera Road and 250 have been planted at Karnataka Polytechnic(KPT). Another 150 saplings will be planted during the course of the next couple of weeks alongside some roads inside the city. The group is now concentrating on planting fruit bearing tree saplings in support of the local avian (bird) population. Many well-wishers who are close friends or known personally to this group, have come forward to sponsor the cause. The sponsorship hasbeen utilized for digging pits and transporting saplings. In some places where the ground is hard, an earth mover is used.
During the past eight years, few thousand saplings has been planted in schools, orphanages, old age homes, cemeteries in and around Mangaluru; as well as, many main roads and by roads in the heart of Mangaluru City. In the year 2012, this group played the pivotal role in the entire planting process taken up by the Forest Department at the Mangaluru International Airport -Kenjar. About 250 saplings were planted there.
It has also cooperated with the Forest department in greening a few public parks in Mangaluru such as the Radio Park in Urwa, the Hat Hill Park at Lalbagh etc.
The local Forest department and officials are very supportive and encouraging towards the efforts of the group. They have provided a multitude of free saplings and also assist in clearing overgrown sites using grass cutter machines.
TTL strongly believes and practices that, there is no point in just planting saplings and adding more trees if you are not conserving the existing trees. Even as many as 50 saplings are no match to one fully grown tree. That’s why TTL has a team who frequently keeps a watch on the road widening and other construction activities in the city to know if any trees are needlessly being planned to be felled. TTL puts in RTIs with the Forest Dept., as well as the City Corporation to get information on the number of trees they plan to cut for different projects. When a tree can be saved, objections are filed by TTL under the Preservation of Trees Act.
The TTL group has a very good rapport with all concerned officials of the Forest Dept. who help with understanding the concerns. The Forest Dept.always provides an appointment whenever possible to discuss issues various issues regarding trees. Advocate Mrs. Suma R.Nayak handles the paper work. When it comes to taking the legal route,she drafts case papers; as well as, herself arguing for concerned matters in Court. She is an ardent tree and animal lover. She runs a shelter (Vatsalya) for sick and injured stray animals at Shakthinagar, Mangalore. Many volunteers of Animal Care Trust are also a part of TTL.
This year, TTL has undertaken a novel conservation initiative. It has commenced documentation of trees in public areas that will be recorded online using GPS( geo stationary satellite assisted Global Positioning System ) enabled software which will be available to the general public for educational and public assisted conservation purposes. It is a time consuming process and needs the able support of committed volunteers. The spearhead of this initiative is Charles D’Souza, ably supported by Alok Saldanha.
This whole initiative involves much of team work, dedication and great coordination. Some of who have been helping financially are Subhash Alva, Gaurav Jeeth, Keethan Poojari, Reji Rosario, Anil Baliga, Shawn Fernandes, Dilip Vas, Ms. Mania Shet, RoshanSomiah, Shravan, Ms. Shaubhangi, Manish Rao, Mark Saldanha, Charles D’Souza, SumanthKamath, Rohan Shiri, Nithin Shetty, Jaycees Lalbagh Mangalore, Rotary club Down Town Mangalore, and many others.
Volunteers who worked on the ground are Ms Sarah Crasta, Rohan Shiri, Elwin Noronha, Mstr. Rathan Noronha, Ms.Neha Noronha, Alok Saldanha, Charles D’souza, Arjun Mascarenhas, Shawn Fernandes, Mstr. KianFerandes, Dr BrijeshKhandige,.Dilip Vas, Ms.Averil Vas, Mstr. Dave Vas, Ms.AllanaVas, Roshan Somiah, RupeshShetty, Ms Harriet Vidhyasagar, Ms.MainaShet, Colin D’Silva, Ms.Anna Crasta, Rakesh, Chinmay Rao, Darryl Tauro, Ms.Maithri, JnaneshShetty, Ms.Megan,.Lohit Bangera, Pavithra Lohit, Arun Mysore, John; just to name a few.
The hard work of digging pits and planting saplings has been done by Jagadisha from Chikamagalur. Shankara, Manju, Devaraja, Chikkanna have been a few people who have assisted him on different occasions.
To join this group, you may whatapp: +91 9986661416
TTL has a presence on the web world of the internet, in Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TTLMangalore) and email (ttlmangalore@gmail.com). All genuinely interested persons may kindly contact the group to volunteer.
Authored by: Rohan M. Shiri
Editing and Contribution: Dilip Vas