Shangri-La Development Association (SDA) has been committed to environmental preservation through different eco-friendly measures as a part of sustainability since its inception. The organisation takes positive environmental actions to raise awareness to protect nature and remind people to practice environment-friendly activities.
This year too, SDA continued its work for environmental conservation and advocating for sustainability. It united farmer groups, communities, and local government bodies to amplify the value of preserving the environment.
The theme of World Environment Day 2022 was ‘Only One Earth’, and it focused on “Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature”.
SDA celebrates World Environment Day
SDA celebrated World Environment Day by planting 275 trees. The former part of the occasion comprised a formal program. And the latter part constituted the tree plantation. The world environment day was a perfect day to celebrate, acknowledge and further the commitments of SDA toward a cleaner and greener environment.
A total of 54 people were present at the program site. Members of four farmer groups, local people joined by SDA Chairperson Jay Shankhar Upadhyay, Secretary Prakriti Bhandari, and SDA staff had attended the program. From the local government representatives, the Vice-Chairperson of Kailash Rural Municipality Bal Kumar Malla, the ward chairperson of Kailash Rural Municipality of ward no 3 DevLal Bal, and an executive member of Kailash Rural Municipality RamMaya Praja attended the program. On average, each participant planted five trees.
Importance of Local Government Representatives in Community Programs
SDA ensures the presence of the local government bodies in almost all programs it conducts in the project areas.
Local governments are responsible for taking action on social and economic planning at the local level. They are in control of adopting measures, influencing changes and shaping community growth. Moreover, they oversee determining the usage of local resources in ways that benefit the community and the surroundings.
Making sure that the local government is present at the program site promotes sustainable strategies for development while also establishing a sense of accountability in them. Likewise, it also helps to strengthen the local representative system of work.
Local governments can advocate the organisational objectives of SDA that align with sustainability and implement them to improve the lives of people there.
Environmental Preservation for the Community by the Community
The SDA agriculture team understood the community-level collaboration the organisation focuses on achieving. For that, they met with the farmer group members of Kailash Rural Municipality with the plan for World Environment Day. The four farmer groups are Lalupate Farmers Group, Khirki Farmers Group, Likchhe Farmers Group and Ambatar Farmers Group.
And among them, Secretary of Ambatar Farmers Group, Surendra Thing, offered some of his lands for the tree plantation on the world environment day. He made three kattha of his land available for tree Nursery.
Surendra Thing of Kailash Rural Municipality – 03, Ambatar, has been in a farmers group for around ten years. The SDA agriculture team reached out to him with the idea of planting trees on world environment day.
As soon as Surendra heard of the plan, he knew he had to be on board because it felt like an excellent thing to be a part of as a pioneer in his area by providing land for tree plantation. He shared the idea with his family and explained how it is a good initiation and beneficial to him, his family and the entire community. The variety in the tree saplings meant that Surendra could grow several types of trees ranging from fodder and fruits to herbs.
Surendra took time off his daily work to dedicate himself to digging holes and preparing the land for the plantation a few days before the program day. Agriculture Staff Puran Khadka arranged for other people from the locality to help Surendra.
“The land I have was just unused and barren. So I thought of the future and proceeded to offer the land for tree plantation since it will benefit us in several ways,” Surendra says.
SDA agriculture staff had coordinated with the Division Forest Office, Hetauda, and received 1500 tree and grass plants. It took three days to bring all the tree plants to Kalikatar in time before the world environment day. Similarly, there was the active involvement of on-the-Job Training students in mobilising farmer group members to dig and prepare the land.
Planting trees is comparatively easier than preserving them for years. Surendra will require extra labour since his land has over 250 trees now. Upon pondering, he shared plans to discuss the added responsibility with the SDA Agriculture staff. While Surendra is more than happy to carry on with additional duty, he will look for friends to help him take care of the trees.
Surendra represents change and individuals who understand environmental stake. It is inspiring when someone uses their land for the betterment of the community they live in and the family with whom they share a roof. Having planted trees for the first time, Surendra urged everyone to use their land for tree plantation.
“Moving forward, the farmer group I am part of, and I will be involved in tree plantation more actively,” Surendra adds with a smile.
He will take the matter forward and encourage the people from his community to participate in tree plantations. Everyone shared a mutual feeling of accomplishment in completing the tree plantation program.
“I will be coordinating with SDA Agriculture staff Puran Khadka sir and perform some assessments myself to plant trees different from today,” Surendra sounds determined.
Stating to take environmental issues seriously in days to come, Surendra further shared his plans to plant mangoes, litchi, coffee, and citrus on the land around his house that can thrive in the climate and geographical structure here.
“Today felt like a lesson for me, and I will not take this day for granted,” Surendra adds, “my heart is swelling with pride.”
The participants planted various trees such as Cinnamon – Cinnamomum verum, Myrobalan – Terminalia bellerica, Black Myrobalan – Terminalia chebula, Raj Brichhya (Golden shower tree) – Cassia fistula, Tamarind – Tamarindus indica, River Tamarind – Leucaena leucocephala, Chinaberry – Melia azedarach, Gooseberry – Ribes uva-crispa, Bay Leaf – Laurus nobilis, Night Jasmine – Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Drooping Fig – Ficus semicordata and Mulberry – Morus alba. These trees are suitable for the geographical and climate structure of Kalikatar.
The tree plantation program is also an attempt to raise awareness about plants for profit-making in the community. Since most of them are herbal trees, they have medicinal and economic values. For example, Chebulic Myrobalan and Black Myrobalan can be used to manufacture soap and have medicinal properties. Besides, grass and fodder plants are for the livestock the locals rear.
The agriculture team will soon start distributing the remaining saplings from 1500 to the members of the farmer groups and interested locals. The team also is planning to plant a few hundred saplings at SDA agriculture land in Latabari.
Bridging the Gap on Sustainability Unawareness
It is worth recognizing the environmentally responsible attitude of the locals and belief in SDA as an organisation. They understand how local people and environmental preservation have been one of the priorities of SDA since the beginning. Hence, they showed up and contributed from their side in any capacity they could.
Over the years, through its numerous project activities, SDA has convinced the people of Kailash Rural Municipality to focus on sustainable approaches. While we are not there fully yet, programs like tree plantation are the measures SDA takes to bridge the gap of unawareness and create responsibilities for a sustainable future.
The highly prevalent lack of knowledge is an obstacle for the local farmers. They have seeds to plant, but with traditional farming, they can only yield limited crops. Knowledge is absent in terms of improving farming techniques. Moreover, the inadequate understanding of the features of specific plants, fruits, and herbs has been a barrier for them.
The farmer groups in Kailash Rural Municipality had not even thought of tree plantation. Hence, Surendra thanked SDA for running the tree plantation program for obvious reasons.
SDA anticipates farmer groups to share more advice during their meeting about the tree plantation. Moreover, as a result of the world environment day program, there will be an increase in consultation and coordination with the Agriculture team.
The SDA Agriculture team attends farmer groups meetings to keep updated on regular farmer activities, among many other things. They will be actively engaged in ensuring that the core objectives of SDA concerning sustainability get transferred through sharing knowledge at the community level.
Tree plantation: Old Concept, Distinct Purpose
The activity on June 5 can be considered a step in the right direction, especially for the farmers. The program highlighted the environmental importance and showed a path for the community farmers to follow.
There are limitless benefits to environmental protection. A better environment ensures the improvement of integral components in sustaining human lives. A cleaner and greener environment means the air we breathe and the water we drink become safer and healthier.
While planting trees on the world environment day is not a new concept, SDA has its distinct purpose for organising the tree plantation program on June 5 in its project area.
Having pre-existing natural resources in abundance raises concern that the people from rural areas might overlook their part in achieving sustainable development since development is seen as equivalent to urbanisation only.
SDA aimed and planned to embed the weight of tree plantation in the consciousness of the locals. It felt necessary to register the significance of tree plantation in the minds of the general public because of the gravity of its positive impacts and beneficial aspects.
Thus, we all need to commit ourselves to environmental preservation since it is the only viable option should we want to maintain the survival of life on planet earth for generations to come.