Meanwhile, NGOs have started motivating people to contribute towards the dream of '1 crore saplings in five years' aka 'Koti Vriksha Abhiyaan'. In less than 10 years, Vijayapura There is a lot happening for nature lovers. The district is now home to the largest urban forest plantation – over 60,000 native species of trees have been planted in an area of over 600 acres. In total, more than 1.3 crore saplings have already been planted, and with solar-powered drip irrigation, it was possible to achieve a 98% survival rate for the plants, according to the Society for the Protection of Plants and Animals (SPPA), According to an NGO that oversees the efforts.
A question worth asking this Earth Day: Can Vijayapura be replicated in other parts of Karnataka, perhaps even other parts of India?
“It is an important task, but it can and should be replicated,” Patil said in an exclusive interview. According to him, the biggest problem is that, typically in a government-RU project, different departments work independently. work together, even if they have a common goal.“But it must be a coordinated effort. If you ask me, such a project can be successful if a deputy commissioner, CEO of the district panchayat and the forest department are involved and talk to each other,” Patil said.
However, in the case of Vijayapura, Patil said he personally ensured that the project ran smoothly. “To be honest, I bypassed many bureaucratic processes. It was simple for me. Let's say, if someone wanted access to water so they could maintain plants, I made sure they got water.So, I think, in Vijayapura it was a little different from the situation elsewhere,” Patil said.
When he joined, Patil said he just wanted to expand the scope of the forest. He said he wanted to do something when he heard it was a dismal 0.17%, the lowest in Karnataka. He said, in his mind he was thinking how difficult it would be to distribute saplings for people to plant.
“Then I realized it wasn't that simple.We didn't have enough plants the first year. That's when we started growing them in the nursery. Now, we grow a variety of native species in more than 2 nurseries which are beneficial for the farmers. That was a valuable lesson for us,” Patil said. His son Dhruv, a professional wildlife photographer and president of the NGO SPPA, said initially, he too had thought that farmers would be happy to get cheap saplings – they would get only 10% of the cost for it. Will have to pay.“But he had no interest in it. It took us a while to get the hang of it, instead of giving available plants, we have to give them what they want. When we started giving them what they wanted – mostly red sandalwood, mangoes and other fruit trees too – they started coming back for more. That's when we saw the whole agroforestry movement take off,” said Dhruv, 21, studying at New York University.
According to him, it is because of agroforestry that the movement really took off."I would say creating awareness was another important goal of this ambitious project," Patil said.
Dhruv said, this is where his NGO stepped in. “We called the campaign ‘Coat Tree Campaign’. We worked closely with forest department officials. We organized events in schools, organized marathons, did a lot of things so that people invest in a green Vijayapura,” said Dhruv.People also really contributed, the minister said. “He played his role as an employee, as a citizen… You know, the gram panchayats really surprised me. A gram panchayat woman planted around 5,000 saplings and took care of them, it couldn’t have been easier,” Patil said. Dhruva said today’s youth are so fond of it that they even buy saplings instead of bouquets on weddings and birthdays. Give as a gift.
“It is not difficult for passionate people to organize people.What happens is, Vijayapura can become a model – an enthusiastic group of people can create a trust by bringing all the stakeholders together,” said Dhruva.
He said the impact the project made through joint efforts far exceeded expectations. “Two weeks ago, when the rest of Karnataka was facing high temperatures, we received the first rains of the season. This cannot be a coincidence. Moreover, I have personally documented more than 185 species of birds in these block gardens, with more and more migratory birds like flamingos and bar-headed geese flocking to Vijayapura. This cannot be a coincidence,” Dhruv said.
A question worth asking this Earth Day: Can Vijayapura be replicated in other parts of Karnataka, perhaps even other parts of India?
“It is an important task, but it can and should be replicated,” Patil said in an exclusive interview. According to him, the biggest problem is that, typically in a government-RU project, different departments work independently. work together, even if they have a common goal.“But it must be a coordinated effort. If you ask me, such a project can be successful if a deputy commissioner, CEO of the district panchayat and the forest department are involved and talk to each other,” Patil said.
However, in the case of Vijayapura, Patil said he personally ensured that the project ran smoothly. “To be honest, I bypassed many bureaucratic processes. It was simple for me. Let's say, if someone wanted access to water so they could maintain plants, I made sure they got water.So, I think, in Vijayapura it was a little different from the situation elsewhere,” Patil said.
When he joined, Patil said he just wanted to expand the scope of the forest. He said he wanted to do something when he heard it was a dismal 0.17%, the lowest in Karnataka. He said, in his mind he was thinking how difficult it would be to distribute saplings for people to plant.
“Then I realized it wasn't that simple.We didn't have enough plants the first year. That's when we started growing them in the nursery. Now, we grow a variety of native species in more than 2 nurseries which are beneficial for the farmers. That was a valuable lesson for us,” Patil said. His son Dhruv, a professional wildlife photographer and president of the NGO SPPA, said initially, he too had thought that farmers would be happy to get cheap saplings – they would get only 10% of the cost for it. Will have to pay.“But he had no interest in it. It took us a while to get the hang of it, instead of giving available plants, we have to give them what they want. When we started giving them what they wanted – mostly red sandalwood, mangoes and other fruit trees too – they started coming back for more. That's when we saw the whole agroforestry movement take off,” said Dhruv, 21, studying at New York University.
According to him, it is because of agroforestry that the movement really took off."I would say creating awareness was another important goal of this ambitious project," Patil said.
Dhruv said, this is where his NGO stepped in. “We called the campaign ‘Coat Tree Campaign’. We worked closely with forest department officials. We organized events in schools, organized marathons, did a lot of things so that people invest in a green Vijayapura,” said Dhruv.People also really contributed, the minister said. “He played his role as an employee, as a citizen… You know, the gram panchayats really surprised me. A gram panchayat woman planted around 5,000 saplings and took care of them, it couldn’t have been easier,” Patil said. Dhruva said today’s youth are so fond of it that they even buy saplings instead of bouquets on weddings and birthdays. Give as a gift.
“It is not difficult for passionate people to organize people.What happens is, Vijayapura can become a model – an enthusiastic group of people can create a trust by bringing all the stakeholders together,” said Dhruva.
He said the impact the project made through joint efforts far exceeded expectations. “Two weeks ago, when the rest of Karnataka was facing high temperatures, we received the first rains of the season. This cannot be a coincidence. Moreover, I have personally documented more than 185 species of birds in these block gardens, with more and more migratory birds like flamingos and bar-headed geese flocking to Vijayapura. This cannot be a coincidence,” Dhruv said.
