Today, in every minute 117 cars are made, 36 football fields of forest cover are lost. In India, the ideal forest cover should be 33%, it is infact only 24. Attempting to change this and already having planted 36,000 trees is Shubhendu Sharma of Afforestt.
In this episode of Chai with Lakshmi, Lakshmi Rebecca meets Shubhendu and gets him talking about how rapid afforestation works as a business model and why the inspiring young man got started. “I firmly believe that human development goes hand in hand with industrial and economic development, in addition to enhancing the forest cover of the nation,” says Shubhendu, who was an industrial engineer before he decided to start Afforestt three years ago.
By using the Japanese Miyawaki method, Afforestt is creating completely self-sustaining urban forests in spaces as small as 1000 sq. ft. These are forests with native species and can be fruit-bearing. Whilst in conversation, Shubhendhu explains how these urban forests aren’t just necessary, they are also cost efficient since they only cost a total of around 1.5 lakh rupees per 1000 sq. ft. This is far less expensive compared to some landscaping options.
In the episode, Shubhendhu goes on to tell us how in addition to creating urban forests, it is also important to dispel common misconceptions about having greenery at the proximity of one’s home. No, there will be no creepy-crawlies coming into your home.
Going beyond their own efforts, and creating an environmentally-friendly society, this young man shares with Lakshmi about the need to let their methodology evolve and improve. Therefore, Shubhendu and his team of four have been freely sharing methodology and databases of region-specific native plant species.
Watch the episode and discover the amazing environmentally-friendly work of a young team:
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About the show:
Chai with Lakshmi is India’s first award winning online talk show that showcases people and ideas that are positively shaping India for the future.
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