This is our 100th episode on the crowdforesting website. When I began this, I never imagined it would go so far. But we have reached this milestone, and I have benefited hugely from it. I have spoken of some of the work I have done, and when people do experiments on their own, they send messages to inform me of their results or experiences. The other day, I had a message from Mr Jigar Chaudhary – I don’t know anything about him except that he watches my videos – suggesting that I create a Telegram group. He said that Whatsapp cannot have groups bigger than 250 members. A Telegram group has no such restrictions. It will bring together people from all around the world, India and Kerala who have similar interest in afforestation, and this will facilitate an exchange of ideas. I really appreciate his suggestion. There are two reasons for it.
One, a few years back, I cut down a Red lucky seed tree because it had grown so huge that no other plants could grow anywhere near it. But almost immediately, despite the heat of the summer season, a lot of sprouts appeared at the base. I thought it was the result of our good water management, and happened to mention it on my Facebook page, along with a photograph of the new branches. A person who happened to see it corrected me. He said it was a common phenomenon as it was part of a plant’s survival strategy. That was when I thought of starting a YouTube channel so that there could be an exchange of information. I read all the comments that are posted, and reply to most of them.
Two, a gentleman named Sanal, who experiments with all kinds of afforestation techniques in the US, has been sharing some of his videos with me. I thought it would be nice if I could share them with people with similar interests. That would be much better than my trying out his techniques and then sharing them with you. Besides, many among you, like Mr Sanal, would be interested in and willing to share informative videos in your possession. A majority of those who watch such videos are of that nature. If a large number of like-minded people come together, we can share a lot of information without any waste of time. That was how I reached a decision to start a Telegram group. The number is 6282903190. Please send your message to this group. The Admin will certainly add you in it. Let us all share information on this forum.
A response I got to my previous crowdforesting video was what sparked off this decision. In it, I happened to mention how I was feeding birds with bakery food or bread. Many viewers commented that we have already ruined our children’s health with bakery food. Should we now extend it to birds? That point is true. But there is a reason for doing it. Here, there are plenty of items for the birds to eat – papaya, Spanish cherry, coral berry and other small fruits – but that is not enough. Squirrels come at 6 in the morning, followed by birds like Rufous treepie. In fact, so many other birds come here and consume all the fruits, that these are left with nothing. So they come to eat the bread.
Several years back, I saw a photograph of wild elephants at Munnar raiding a tea shop and eating vadas. Yesterday, a Forest Department officer told me that growing instances of elephants and other wild animals coming into human habitats are because natural streams in the forests are drying up. That is because we are felling trees, wildfires are breaking out, and we are planting exotic, invasive species inside forests. All of this is causing the streams to dry up. As a result, these animals have no other option but come to the closest areas in search of food and water. They do not intend to destroy crops but their arrival causes damage to our crops and there is a threat to our lives too. Therefore we have to create an environment suitable for animals and birds to find their sources of food within the forests.
I shall wind up with one more anecdote. Recently, I was at NIMS hospital premises, Neyyattinkara, to speak at a meeting on the Miyawaki Model of Afforestation. The founder told me how he solved the monkey menace at a 300-acre campus at Velimala where he has set up an educational institution. The local people advised him to frighten them away with air guns. But he decided to serve the monkeys a mixture of jaggery and cooked rice at three different spots in the campus every afternoon. Ever since the practice was begun, there has been no disturbance from the monkeys, because they eat it and leave. That may be true. So we have to think of alternatives. People may agree or disagree with our solutions. That can possibly be settled through discussions.
Please try to join the Telegram group as soon as possible. And please do share this number with as many people as possible.