Tree Plantations : Venturing in the Urban Wild

VNC has been carrying out the successful distribution and plantation of tree saplings in rural and urban areas of Charotar (Anand-Kheda District) free of cost. The aim of this drive is to create sensitivity towards greener Charotar and promote plantation of trees mainly the native ones. Native trees are very supportive to native wildlife like numerous species of insects, mammals, birds etc. This also includes fruiting and flowering and medicinal native trees that are valuable to humans. Since the inception of this drive, VNC has distributed thousands of saplings and trained people to nurture the young saplings and later raise them into maturity. 

This year from June to August we had focused on the same and began visiting various private and forest department nurseries to get good size and healthy saplings. Before the onset of monsoon, we had listed several species of native trees and located the nurseries from where we can acquire sizeable saplings. Few saplings were purchased from various private nurseries also. It is noteworthy that Sojitra Forest Nursery, Kheda Forest Nursery, Matar Forest Nursery, Vaso Forest Nursery, Samarakha Forest Nursery and Traj Forest Nursery provided majority of the saplings free of cost. We had collaborated with various Youth Groups, Gram Panchayats and Social Groups of villages for plantation. 

On the occasion of VNC’s Foundation Day, i.e. 1^st August, we had distributed nearly 2000 saplings from the office free of cost. In association with Kheda Forest Department, we distributed nearly 5000 saplings of various medicinal plants at Vaso and Deva Villages. Also, we have planted nearly 1000 saplings of various native trees at Vaso, Petli, Malataj, Shekhupur, Bhalada, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Heranj and Pij. VNC volunteers and local village people happily helped us in this work by digging holes, providing water supply and transportation of saplings. Locals had also promised to water the saplings on a regular basis and nurture them to adulthood.

This year we have targeted to get the following saplings for plantation and distribution: 

Sr. No.	Local Name	Common Name	Total
1.	Mahudo	Mahuva Tree	50
2.	Kesudo	Flame of the Forest	20
3.	Kadayo	Ghost Tree	5
4.	Baheda	Beach Almond	15
5.	Putranjiva	Lucky Bean Tree	7
6.	Nagol	Arabian Lilac	200
7.	Areetha	Soap Nut Tree	5
8.	Gulmahor	Royal Poinciana	100
9.	Arjun Sadad	Arjun	300
10.	Sitafal	Custard Apple	100
11.	Sirish	Siris Tree	10
12.	Jambu	Java Plum	50
13.	Lal Pichkari	African Tulip Tree (Spathodia)	15
14.	Pipalo	Sacred Fig	50
15.	Kadam	Burflower Tree	15
16.	Umarado	Cluster Fig	30
17.	Limdo	Neem Tree	50
18.	Kanajo	Jungle Cork Tree	20
19.	Champo	Champak	30
20.	Borsalli	Bulletwood Tree	20
21.	Vad	Banyan Tree	20
22.	Saag	Teak	5
23.	Sisu	Indian Rosewood	25
24.	Bili	Bael Tree	10
25.	Rukhado	Baobab Tree	1
26.	Simalo	Red Silk Cotton	1
27.	Shivlingi	Canon Ball Tree	2
28.	Paras Pipalo	Portia Tree	7
29.	Aambo	Mango Tree	10
30.	Goras Amli	Jungle Jalebi	4
31.	Khaati Amli	Tamarind Tree	5
32.	Dabla Badam	Rangoon Badam	5
33.	Desi Badam	Indian Almond Tree	10
34.	Shetur	Mulberry	100
35.	Kachnar	Camel Hoof Tree	25
36.	Sevan	White Teak	5
37.	Garmalo	Indian Laburnum	5
38.	Ardusi	Malabar Nut	30
39.	Saragavo	Moringa Tree	10
40.	Jarul	Pride Of India	5
41.	Prag Vad	Indian Laurel	5
42.	Sita Ashok	Ashoka Tree	10
43.	Fanas	Jackfruit Tree	6
44.	Vaans	Bamboo	5
45.	Kotha	Wood Apple	3
46.	Asopalav	False Ashok	10
47.	Biyo	Indian Kino Tree	5
48.	Sadado	Sajad	3
49.	Tagar	Crepe Jasmine	25
50.	Limbu	Lemon Tree	6
51.	Parijat	Night Flowering Jasmine	10
52.	Mogro	Arabian Jasmine	5
53.	Singapore Cherry	Jamaica Cherry	1
54.	Lal Lasora	Geiger Tree / Cordia	2
55.	Karen	Oleander	40
56.	Nilgiri	Eucalyptus	100
57.	Tulsi	Holy Basil	5000
58.	Jasood	Hibiscus	50
59.	Mahendi	Henna Tree	5
60.	Varsha Dodi	Jivanti	70
61.	Dadam	Pomgranate	70
62.	Chikoo	Naseberry	10
63.	Chhaya Limdi	Persian Lilac	5
64.	Tecoma	Yellow Bells Tree	10
65.	Kunvar Pathu	Aloe Vera	5
66.	Sarpgandha	Indian Snakeroot	5
67.	Ashwagandha	Winter Cherry	10
68.	Bagi Tad	Bottle Palm	7
69.	Nariyeli	Coconut Palm	10
70.	Madhu Kamini	Orange Jasmine	5
71.	Raat Rani	Night Blooming Jasmine	2
72.	Mithi Limdi	Curry Tree	20
73.		Decorative Ficus	15
74.	Ramfal	Wild Sweetsop	10
75.	Anjeer	Common Fig	12
76.	Falsa	Phalsa	20
77.		Umbrella Palm	1
78.	Jatropha	Physic Nut	25

We have covered total 78 species of various native trees, creepers, medicinal plants and shrubs. 

To conclude, we thank our volunteers and local villagers who extended their help and contributed in this mission. Anirudh Vasava, Vishal Mistry, Niyati Patel, Jilesh Patel, Tejash Patel, Shubham Parmar, Pradhyuman Sindha, William Menezes, Jaimin Makwana, Jignesh Patel and Altaf Pathan. We also thank UPL Limited’s Jatin Patel for helping us to connect with Shekhupur and Bhalada villages. We thank Malataj Village’s Navyuvak Mandal, Vaso Gram Panchayat, Deva Gram Panchayat, Petli Gram Panchayat, Shekhupur Gram Panchayat, Bhalada Gram Panchayat, Heranj Gram Panchayat, Pij Gram Panchayat for their constant support. We thank Sojitra Forest Nursery, Kheda Forest Nursery, Matar Forest Nursery, Vaso Forest Nursery, Samarakha Forest Nursery and Traj Forest Nursery for providing us a majority saplings free of cost.