In an effort to increase the green cover in Delhi-NCR, July 28, saw the culmination of the tireless efforts of Amma’s children from different backgrounds and different age groups, here in Delhi NCR. Hundreds of these volunteers belonging to Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon area, conducted a massive seedball plantation drive for more than six hours, amidst the challenging terrain full of huge stones and wilderness in the Rajokri/Ghitorni Forest area in New Delhi on Sunday, on the occasion of World Nature Conservation Day. More than One lakh seedballs were planted today in the forest area as these volunteers spread out in various groups to cover this massive forest area.
These seedballs were made over past many weeks by these volunteer groups that included young kids, youth, middle aged as well as the old. Each group had taken the challenge of making a specified number of seedballs. These volunteers also included the youth from Delhi NCR chapter of AYUDH (youth wing of Mata Amritanandamayi Math). AYUDH volunteers conducted Seedball workshops across various schools and organizations over the past month including Air India, Amrita Vidyalayam school, Deep public school, Alpine convent school, Ankur school etc. Many seedballs were made during these workshops as well. Now with the monsoons having set in, these planted seedballs will ultimately mature into trees, resulting in increased green cover in the region, providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. This massive plantation drivecreated awareness in the city residents towards the importance of forests and the value of conserving the trees.
As a member organization of the United Nations Trillion Tree Campaign, Mata Amritanandamayi Math has organized the planting of more than a million trees globally, and has been recognized as an NGO with Special Consultative status to the UN ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) and now conducts a significant portion of the UN’s work on the ground in India. AYUDH is also working internationally to meet the SDGs put forth by the United Nations.
“Seeds balls are a mixture of soil, compost and plant seeds which is an easy and sustainable ,way to cultivate plants and a step towards conserving the natural ecosystem.”, said local project coordinators.
Amma has been emphasizing on the need of protecting our Mother Nature. Throughout the world, Amma’s centers are working to become local models of sustainable living. Several of our projects and events have been formally recognized by UNESCO as part of the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development.