THANJAVUR: Vanam, a group of environmental activists, are on a mission to help in the re-greening of Cauvery delta districts ravaged by Cyclone Gaja, which uprooted lakhs of trees.
M Kalaimani, an M.Sc. Wildlife Biology graduate and founder of Vanam, was flooded with calls for help from schoolteachers in the aftermath of the cyclone.
“Many said trees that used to act as open-air classrooms were down,” Kalaimani told TNIE. “Many trees which acted as landmarks for villages and other habitations were also uprooted. They were not mere trees, but had been the identity of the localities for long,” he said, adding the loss affected him and his
team of 40-odd volunteers, most of them college students.
They resolved to replant and help others replant as many trees as possible and have set a target of one lakh trees in a year.
"We started planting saplings five days after the cyclone, Kalaimani said, recalling when they planted 100 saplings in Ammayappan village." On the anniversary of Gaja, which falls on Saturday, the group has scheduled to plant 220 saplings in Kavanur hamlet, which also falls under Ammayappan panchayat. Digging of pits started on Friday.
Vanam managed to collect and plant 1.3 lakh Palmyra palm seeds n the delta districts in the past one year. The group was assisted by school and college students in this task.
A handful of organisations like Jeddah Tamil Sangam of Saudi Arabia, Krishnapriya Foundation of Chennai, Qatar Shell GTL Tamil Friends, Siragugal and Anbudan Aram Sei, both of Erode, have come forward to held Vanam in its endeavour to re-green the Gaja-affected districts. The group has replanted 1,450 saplings in 44 schools across the district.
The group also adopted the Miyawaki forest model propagated by Professor Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist. Under the model, a large number of saplings are planted close together, with spacing of one sapling every two feet.
The process of growth is expedited as tree species that usually grow in 10 years become full-fledged trees in five years.
To aid this, compost from bio-waste was used along with effective micro-organisms.
Using the Miyawaki model, as many as 1,800 saplings were planted in four schools, 1,600 saplings in two colleges and 3,800 in two public places.
The group also adopted the method of planting stems from branches of the tree (pothu) which had fallen during the cyclone. They collected the stems when they ventured into villages for rehabilitation work. Species like banyan tree (Aala Maram), Indian tulip tree (Poovarasu), Lannea coromandelica (Odhiyam), Itchi, Kalyana Murugnai and Vadha Narayana were cultivated using the stem propagation
method.
The branches of trees which fell during the cyclone were cut into six to seven-feet pieces and planted after applying dung on the top of the branch. If it takes 10 years for saplings to mature into a tree, stems would become full-grown trees in two to three years, Kalaimani said.
The group has so far planted 650 stems in the delta region and also encouraged others to do the same.
The group has been planting native species like Vembu (Neem), Marudam (Arjun tree), Magilam (Bakula), Iluppai (Mahua), Aalam (Banyan) and Arasu (Peepul) and fruit-bearing species like ‘Iluppai’ (Honey tree), ‘Mahizham’ (Spanish Cherry/Bullet wood) ‘Vadham’, ‘Kodukkapuli’ (Manila Tamarind), ‘Koyya’ (guava) and ‘Shenbagam’ (Champak).