Green Gujarat: Environment group vows to plant 11 crore trees in a year

Ahmedabad: Green Globa Brigade, a Kalol and Ahmedabad-based organization working for the environment has vowed to plant 11 crore trees -10 crores in rural areas and 1 crore in urban areas -in 2016-17. To give the drive a final shape, over 300 organizations would meet at Dero near Himmatnagar on February 6 where governor O P Kohli and state environment minister Mangubhai Pate would also be present.
Jitendra Patel, a Mehsa na-based businessman and a Green Ambassador, said that the recent phenomenon of global warming is not just about one area but the earth as a whole and that motivated them to start the movement. "We are doing planta tion in North Gujarat for the past decade on local level but it is for the first time that we would be collaborating with the department of social forestry for plantation before monsoon in 2016," he said.
Vijay Patel of Mehsana based Prakruti Mandal, said that they would be choosing the right trees for the areas -arid, semi-arid, wet and so on -to ensure that the trees get a life and don't wither away. "The meet in February is to ensure that the volunteers reach to 18,500 villages and all cities of the state. We are also asking the volunteers to take five pledges including nurturing the trees they plant, not to litter or waste natural resources and save the girl child," he said.
The initiative has got support from Sardar Patel Group (SPG) led by Lalji Patel.