Giving Maha the gift of devrais

In Maharashtra the devrais are considered to be sacred These forest patches are home to ancient indigenous trees and a variety of rare and endemic flora and fauna making them biodiversity hotspots But over the last few years due to lack of awareness and rapid urbanisation the devrais have been staring at an ecological disasterVeteran Satarabased Marathi actor Sayaji Shinde is on a mission to revive these green islands Shinde who runs the environmental NGO Sahyadri Devrai is planting lakhs of indigenous trees and plants across Maharashtra especially in droughtprone areasManisha Patankar Mhaiskar and Vaibhav H RajeFor the last three years he and his volunteers have been educating locals and villagers about the ecological role of devrais ldquoDevrais are the epitome of a welldeveloped ecosystem They promote the growth of rare and endangered medicinal plants as well as potential genetic diversity banks which must be preserved The dense cover of trees growing inside these devrais forms an umbrella allowing the water to slowly reach the ground and help increase the water reserves in the nearby farms wells and lakesrdquo explains the actorThe trees inside the devrais he says are home to over 50 different bird species that enjoy the sweet and fleshy fruits that grow here ldquoUnfortunately the trees are felled in large numbers every year during the Konkan Holi festivalrdquo he says One of his many novel initiatives was to celebrate the birthdays of these indigenous trees in order to monitor their growth and to foster a strong bond between trees and villagersGiven the significance of these trees Shinde and his team are also collecting seeds from the existing devrais in the region and conducting extensive tree planting drives in Satara Sangli Aurangabad Jalgaon and Ahmednagar More than 3500 indigenous trees have already been planted along roadsides near temples schools and gram panchayats says Shinde ldquoOur vision is to live in harmony with nature by protecting and conserving endangered indigenous trees plants species and habitatsrdquoDiscussing the importance of heritage trees Vaibhav H Raje International Society of Arboriculture ISA certified arborist says that ldquoas trees grow older the value of the ecosystem services that they provide increases reaching its peak at full maturity depending on the species and the condition of the treerdquo ldquoOur goal should be to allow trees to reach their full potential so that we can reap the benefits they provide Even a dead dying or decaying tree in a nonurban area with large cavities in the trunk provides immense ecological value by harbouring various microbes or insects and providing a suitable habitat for some of the local wildlife Trees have long been recognised as the most effective and longlasting living beings for sequestering atmospheric carbon and regulating the global warming crisisrdquo says RajeManisha Patankar Mhaiskar Principal Secretary of Environment and Climate Change Maharashtra says that a slew of amendments have been made by the state cabinet to ensure that heritage and indigeneous trees are protected ldquoIn a recent set of amendments we defined heritage trees as those that are more than 50 years old We have now decided to develop a method to determine the age of these treesrdquo she says Under the new amendments the state government and not the local corporation has been given authority to protect heritage trees ldquoAlso until recently the law stated that if you cut a 50yearold tree you only had to plant one tree in return That has been changed Now if you cut a tree that is 80 years old you must plant that many trees as the age of the treerdquoThe state has also launched the Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyan now in its second year As part of the initiative councils cities and towns have been asked to conduct a census of all trees heritage trees in particular Such initiatives says Raje will help protect devrais from unnecessary hacking and damage in the futureThe Way Forwardgtgt A proper heritage tree assessment and maintenance protocol must be established with the help of arboriculture expertsgtgt An online state or a national heritage tree register could also be prepared which can be used for public education and local tourism promotiongtgt Similar to our heritage buildings a yearround maintenance budget must be diligently allocated for our heritage trees to carry out necessary activities like scientific pruning propping fencing and cabling or bracing so as to give them the respect they truly deserveCourtesyVaibhav H Raje