PALAKKAD: Once jackfruit, mango and cashew trees were regular inhabitants in our backyard. But large-scale urbanisation and ever-shrinking natural parkland felled them into near oblivion. But now, a motley group of nature enthusiasts is on a mission to give the ‘green friends’ a lease of life.
The activists of Marasena (Tree Brigade), a collective of nature lovers, recently sourced one lakh seeds of traditional trees and distributed it among 5,000 families in Pookottukavu panchayat. On May 14, the seeds were planted in 13 wards in 30 minutes with the active participation of panchayat authorities.
Unlike other organisations, Marasena does not have a president or a secretary and fund-raising is not part of its agenda. “Any person with a passion for nature can become a member and we want to convert this into a movement and sustain it,” Marasena activist R Govindankutty Kartha told Express.
“As Pookottukavu panchayat was in the news for digging 185 odd-wells manually by 300 women under MNREGS in two months, we zeroed in on the local body and distributed the seeds in all houses,” said Kartha, former head of the English department, NSS College, Ottapalam.
“We have three WhatsApp groups with a maximum membership of 257 each,” said Jayaraj, one of the members of the collective. “We chat with them and enrol them if they are serious. There are hundreds waiting outside but we want only those who are ready to breathe life into nature,” he said.
Jayaraj said they concentrated on collecting seeds of tamarind, non-grafted mangoes, jackfruit, njaval (black plum), anjili (wild jack), guava, custard apple, cashew, papaya, ungu (Indian beech tree) and ashoka. “If there are houses with terrace, we distribute passion fruit seeds,” he said.
How did the group take shape? “The idea blossomed when we were shooting short films,” Jayaraj said. “We have already shot five flicks. The first one titled ‘Water jail’ was filmed on the banks of the Bharathapuzha in Thrithala. It was aimed at creating a profile for artists and imparting hands-on training to the crew. The second one was shot in Arimbur in Thrissur. During the filming, the house owner gave us jackfruit and we thought of sowing the seeds in the nearby plot,” he said.
“We formed a group ‘Pakshikootangal’ to collect seeds through social media,” said short film actor and Calicut University postgraduate student T Athira. “We procured traditional varieties because these trees can grow without much care and they are tolerant to diseases.” The initiative received tremendous support from far and wide. Take the case of tamarind trader Rajamani from Palakkad.
“When the idea was narrated to him, he donated thousands of seeds free of cost,” said Jayaraj. “He also said when he used to travel with the consignment from Tamil Nadu to Palakkad, he would randomly throw seeds on the roadside hoping they would grow into trees. Another trader from Kothamangalam also gave thousands of jackfruit seeds and we had to only meet the transportation cost.”
Under the title of Marasena Radio, the members upload voice clips on Facebook and WhatsApp on a range of related topics. As many as 30 messages have been sent out so far, covering issues like ecology, protection of rivers and combating climate change. Pookottukavu panchayat president K Jayadevan said: “We constituted ‘Jalasabhas’ in 50 areas to distribute the seeds provided by Marasena. The volunteers and officers will visit the houses and keep track of the growth of saplings.”