Travellers Forest

Pic: These Dutch students were the first to plant saplings at the Travellers Forest
International flight companies and tour operators are now accepting their contribution to the carbon emission and atmospheric pollution. They also want to play a proactive role in offsetting the adverse affects of carbon emission. Though there are many alternatives that are being talked about on carbon-offset, investment in sustainable energy, greening the globe by planting trees etc come as some of the solutions for carbon offset. We have heard about million dollar projects (much before the global warming) run by several international and national agencies and Government departments that disappeared in no time and planting of exotic trees that killed the local flora and fauna and even created water crisis. Other than eating up tax-payers money, none of this actually did anything positive to the environment, mostly because of lack of local consultation and community participation.

More and more green cover is being lost in even places like Kerala which even until recently had approximately 30% of forest coverage. In today’s value frame work, which promotes and accepts exploitation of natural resources for private material gains, its becoming more and more difficult to motivate local communities with the arguments of global eco-restoration.

Any greening project as part of the eco-restoration will not be successful if the local communities are not the main stake holders. Our small initiative of setting up Travellers forest in association with travelling communities and local communities is actually a small step to bring back the lost green cover that could influence the global weather restoration process, which in turn will also restore the natural hydrological cycle.

Pic: Travellers becoming part of a green movement in Nila!
The value of land (in the context of Kerala) is shooting up exponentially, community lands and even the Government / Panchayat lands are considered too precious to be “wasted” by planting trees. It is in this context that we are looking at bringing in private partnerships to be flag-bearers of greening movement. We realize the fact that eco-restoration is much easily said than done. It is in this context that Nila Foundation in association with Kodeeri Nature Camp and The Blue Yonder decided to come up with Traveller’s Forest.

First such travellers Forest was inaugurated yesterday in Naduvatton village.

Munich © GP 2008