EcoSikh plants 303 forests in name of Guru Nanak in two years

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

EcoSikh on Saturday announced the completion of 303 forests consisting of 1,67,000 trees planted across India.

The plantation of the Guru Nanak Sacred Forests started in collaboration with Afforestt two years ago as part of EcoSikh’s goal of planting 1 million trees in honour of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth-anniversary, according to EcoSikh officials.

Rajwant Singh, global president of EcoSikh, said, “We are very pleased that 167,000 trees have been planted in these sacred forests so far and 99% of them have survived and are thriving. This way of paying tribute to Guru Nanak will have a long-lasting positive impact on future generations. These sacred forests are conserving and restoring the biodiversity of Punjab and other parts of India. This is a collective and a solid step to fight climate change.”

He added, “EcoSikh has also established its first nursery of indigenous trees of Punjab and we are grateful to Sajjan Precision Castings in Sahnewal for hosting this initiative. This has helped our forest plantations tremendously.”

EcoSikh president Supreet Kaur said, “Over 55 native and rare forest trees species of Punjab have been conserved under this project.”

The panelists also launched a video teaser, ‘How to create a Sacred Forest in Punjab’ a free online tutorial, which will uplift the vision of the youth of the state.

EcoSikh is celebrating the 11th annual Sikh environment day on March 14. This was started by the organisation to mark the Gurta-gaddi Diwas (enthronement day) of the 7th Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai.