

Tree planting. Everyone does it. Schools do it. MNCs do it. Widows and mourning relatives do it. Even Nitin Gadkari does it. Last week, the

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that he had plans to plant 200 crore trees along 1 lakh km of National Highway. Indians frequently combine this anodyne pursuit with another one – record breaking. In 2012, 9,814 volunteers planted 99,103 saplings of Ladakhi willow in an hour, breaking the previous record (66,000 done on the occasion of a tycoon’s birthday in Philippines, in case you wondered). We also hold the Guinness Book record for the most number of trees planted in a day by a team, but Pakistan has the one for the most number of trees planted by an individual in a day. Noble intentions and tree planting always seem to go together.

Sadly, you might want to stop doing it. Experts will tell you that if you really do love the environment, you should take a step back before you lower that next sapling into the ground. The National Forest Policy (1988) aims to have at least one-third of the country’s total land area under forest or tree cover, but planting trees without careful consideration can in fact do more harm than good. Time for some introspection (or intreespection, as you will).

What tree am I planting?

The aforementioned Ladakhi willow proved a sensible choice in that particular instance – the roots of these willows bind the soil and prevent erosion. But if the green baby you are inserting into the ground is not native to your region, there’s every possibility they will catch diseases and be zapped by the weather in a way that native trees won’t. They may also require more water and other resources for their maintenance than a city may not be able to afford. Non-native trees can also be harmful to native flora – eucalyptus, which is widely planted in India, strips the soil of moisture and nutrients and renders the soil in the area infertile. They can also be eye-poppingly expensive, costing huge amounts of public money. The government of Punjab, for instance, has been on a spree to plant date palms in the last few years; Amritsar has date palms lining the road from the city to the airport. While some claim the trees cost Rs 12,000 each, members of Amritsar-based NGO Mission Aagaaz claim they cost Rs 20,000 each. “We have filed an RTI application so we can have this on record,” says G Gurbhej, the organization’s secretary.

Is my tree going to kill someone?

You have romantic notions of creating a shady canopy for your unborn grandchildren and decide to plant Rain trees or Silver Oaks. But the roots of giant, sprawling trees in cramped urban spaces may damage compound walls, building foundations and water and sewage pipelines. Or in the monsoon, falling trees and branches can be deadly for pedestrians and motorists on the street. Bangalore’s municipal body, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has decided to stop planting Gulmohars in the city as it believes they’re a nuisance, particularly because of falling branches when it rains.

Why am I stuck on flowers?

Vinay Sreenivasa, an activist with Hasiru-Usiru – a network of organizations and individuals in Bangalore concerned about protecting equitable access to public spaces – believes that now and then, it’s nice to have some ornamental trees such as Tabebuia, which dot Bangalore with showers of pink flowers every spring, or Rain and Gulmohar trees that provide the city with shade. But he cautions that it’s also important to have varied species, and not have streets lined only with avenue or ornamental trees. “We need to consider what purpose we want a tree to serve in a particular area, and select the species and location accordingly. Why aren’t we planting more fruit trees, given the state of our food security?”

Santhosh George of WePlant India, which promotes the planting of indigenous, location-specific fruit trees in public places, believes planting fruit trees will enhance biodiversity and fight malnourishment. “In northern India, trees such as mango, jamun, guava, pomegranate and gooseberry grow well, while in the south, it’s mulberry and papaya. In northeast India, we promote the planting of oranges, plums, and sometimes apples, because they do well there.”

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