FLR Alumni Stories

Bringing FLR Seminar Lessons to the Real World

Nino Bregadze (FLR Seminar Alumna, 2018) and Vakho Chitashvili (Watershed Management Alumnus, 2019) are working together within the scope of the Austrian Development Cooperation-funded project – Promotion of Sustainable Forest Management for Rural Development, implemented by the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN). Nino is the deputy team leader of the project and coordinates the awareness raising component, while Vakho is leading the disaster risk reduction (DRR). Together they are involved in several activities that contribute to the sustainable consumption of forest resources, promotion of integrated watershed management and public awareness.

 

Within the same project, CENN supports restoration and revitalization of the landscape of Krtsanisi Forest Park via organizing community engagement in tree planting activities announced by local National Wildlife Agency, promotion of the rehabilitation process itself and dialogue between key stakeholders. Experience and knowledge gained at the USFS seminars have been important in their professional work, which they utilize on a regular basis.

 

 

 

Persistence, Patience, and Experience Transform a Wasteland

Give Me Trees Trust has successfully completed the restoration of the land in Noida Sector 115 of district Gautam Budh Nagar. This urban forest is now called Uday Upvan.

When the Give Me Trees team started working on the land in October 2017, it was completely barren land with no greenery, and was considered to be a wasteland. Many other organizations had tried to restore this land for several years but had been unsuccessful in doing so.

 

Give Me Trees cleaned the area and worked extensively on the soil, using a lot of compost to make the soil fertile. This was done with the involvement of more than 7,000 volunteer families who would give their kitchen waste, which would be converted into compost.

After working on the soil, the team planted trees on this site. Dense plantation was done, following the principles of the Miyawaki method of tree planting. The team also built tree nurseries at the site.

 

Within 3 years, Give Me Trees completely transformed the land into a lush green urban forest, which now has 50,000+ tree saplings. Several species of birds, butterflies, insects, mammals, small rodents and other wildlife has revived in the area, apart from increase in the groundwater levels and improvement in soil fertility.

Till date, Give Me Trees Trust has planted and preserved more than 20 million trees across India, and has more than 15,000 active volunteers.