St Aloysius College Sahaya Group & NECF plant 450 Saplings in Arasinamakki
St Aloysius College Sahaya Group & National Environment Care Foundation (NECF) plant 450 Saplings in Arasinamakki, near Shishila in Belthangady Taluk (DK)
Mangaluru : In a continuous drive for planting saplings of fruit-bearing trees in reserve forest areas, environmental activists and enthusiasts planted 450 such saplings in the Arasinamakki area near Shishila in Dakshina Kannada. A joint initiative by the Sahaya Group of St Aloysius College-Mangaluru comprising of 30 students in association with National Environment Care Foundation (NECF), Mangaluru comprising of 15 environmentalists , and the State Department of Forest, the enthusiasts planted saplings of local fruits such as mango, jack-fruit, jamun, wild jack, kokum and guava.
The saplings were planted after forming trenches, which were supplied by the Forest Department. The team consisted of the young and old, and main attraction among the volunteers was a five-and-half-year-old boy, Shourya, who planted three saplings, alone. Yet another star attraction among the volunteers was Rector of St Aloysius Institutions Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ, attired in perfect outdoor gear, who did some digging and planting of saplings, thereby boosting the spirit of the Aloysian volunteers. Prior to the planting of the saplings, the volunteers did some thorough clean-up in the woods, and collected garbage comprising of liquor/beer bottles, plastic water bottles etc. littered by miscreants- and the waste was handed over to the local grama panchayat to dispose them off scientifically.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Sashidhar Shetty, the convener of NECF said, “On 16 June 2019, 380 such saplings were planted in Renjala reserve forest area between Moodbidri and Karkala. As many as 70 persons had taken part in the drive then. The 1,500 seed balls of mango and jackfruit were buried in Rejala area and we did not throw the seed balls. Instead, we buried them. The sapling drive in Arasinamakki village was the second in the series of this year’s drive. Next Sunday’s planting drive will be carried out in the Karnire area near Padubidri. It will be done in association with Karnire Foundation. The NECF launched this drive in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi last year.”.
“About 2,500 saplings of different varieties will be distributed to people there. In addition, 375 fruit-bearing and other such saplings will be planted in a hillock there. Not only birds but some animals too feed on fruit-bearing trees. Our planting on the foothills of the Western Ghats helped in controlling attacks by monkeys and wild boar on crops grown by farmers. when you plant fruit bearing trees, when they grow up and yield, animals can eat the fallen fruits so that man-animal conflict could be mitigated in the future ” added Shetty.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ said, “It was a great experience and I was happy to see our students enthusiastically planting the saplings for a green environment. As we saw in the past, there are many rules, laws, conventions made for protecting the environment but there has been no effective implementation. For this implementation youth should play a vital role. Young people can play an active role in protecting and improving the environment.They can change their lifestyle and how it affects the environment. They can make their homes, schools and youth organizations more environmentally friendly by adopting environmentally friendly practices, recycling of different materials as well as preserving resources such as water and electricity. Engaging youth in environmental protection not only creates direct impact on changing youth behaviors and attitudes, but possibly influence their parents, relatives and families. I am happy to note Sahaya group played an important part in this sapling drive”.
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