Leveraging Technology and Securing Mass Plantations with Innovation
Transcriber: lassi shine
Reviewer: Hani Eldalees
The year 2020 has made us realize
the ill effects of climate change
with covid-19 crisis,
we have learned the importance of
outdoors and the environment.
Overnight, the world came to a halt
and all of us witnessed how nature heals
itself when we don’t meddle with it.
In India, we saw Himalayan ranges from
as far as 200 kilometers due to
a drop in air pollution. We also saw
the River Yamuna restore its quality
when garbage stopped pouring in.
And this way covid-19 as a warning,
as well as an opportunity to start
environmental conservation at
a much faster rate. Large scale
deforestation was happening around
the world even before covid-19. But did
we know the magnitude of these events?
What if I told you that we
lose forests equal to
a football field every second
round the clock,
which means that by the end of this talk
we might have lost forest equal to around
500 football fields Globally. Climate
change is happening as we speak
and we are running out
of time to manage it.
A planetary emergency is knocking on
our doors and thus every second,
every effort counts. Without busy
schedules and countless duties,
we perform as humans. Environmental
conservation doesn’t feature
on our priority list.
Keeping this in mind,
we developed a web platform
called www.sankalptaru.org
where it takes only two minutes
to plant a tree
from anywhere in the world.
On this platform, people can log on,
pick a location based on their preference
and plant trees wherever they wish.
Every tree comes with a geotagged
that shows its exact location
and updates are provided
from time to time.
This means that now a tree becomes
a great gifting option to celebrate
occasions and a thoughtful move
for the environment. Planting trees
was easier 30 years ago as there was
an abundance of water and land resources.
However, now we are facing
a crunch of resources.
As water levels have depleted,
there is lesser land available
due to diversion for other uses.
And even weather patterns don’t
follow a set trajectory,
which makes it more difficult.
We need to be therefore mindful
of how we use the resources.
It is important to use them judiciously
and use innovative techniques to
not just increase plantation
but also increase survival
rate of the plants.
Today we have tools and tricks in
the form of new technologies that
can help resolve challenges.
These technologies can be used to
prepare us better for plantation
and also help us monitor and nurture
the plants more efficiently.
We have leveraged following technological
solutions in our various deforestation
initiatives and now we
are sharing it with
a wider audience to make it replicable
across the planet.
So the first solution which we have
adopted is rainwater harvesting by
building big ponds at plantation site,
which are favorable for
rainwater collection.
It has helped us tremendously as
it recharges the water table
and puts less stress on the water
resources available in the region.
And the second solution
lies where water, no matter how widely
available, has to be used judiciously.
So we deploy micro drip irrigation
system at plantation sites,
which ensures maximum efficiency
and minimal wastage.
For example, in the desert, where rate
of evaporation is extremely high,
filling pits with water is futile.
Most of the irrigation pumps
run on electrical power,
but conventionally electricity is not only
expensive but also not sustainable.
Therefore, solar pumps are used,
which are of great structures and are
excellent source of renewable energy.
They are also cost effective and
can be used in remote areas.
Similarly, the use of drones came
as a eureka moment for us.
Traditionally, surveying, mapping
and marking of an area of
a plantation took several days and still
delivered inaccurate results.
However, drones sylvian and mapping does.
The job is less than 30 minutes
for large tracts of land,
which makes Plantation not only faster
but also saves crucial person hours
to prepare and nurtures saplings.
Similarly, seed bombing, a technique that
mimics birds way of disposing seeds
across regions help us take advantage of
technology and bomb seeds during monsoons.
Since monsoons are conducive
for germination,
it helps us go wider tracts
of land in Himalayas
and areas which are inaccessible
and where mass mobilization of community
involvement is not possible.
At the same time, drones released
minimal carbon footprint
and are viable in terms of portability
and reliability.
We also leverage the Internet of Things
“IOT” and use micro sensors which help
us to determine soil moisture,
temperature and humidity levels
at each plantation block.
This information enables us to make
judicious decisions related to irrigation
and noticing of plans and hence uses
resources more responsibly.
Using these technologies led to our
understanding that technology should be
used in harmony with nature.
We must not forget that our sustenance
relies on the sustenance of our planet,
and we have to focus more on conserving
whatever limited resources we left with
Forest fire is another worldwide
phenomena, which poses a global challenge.
They are as old as the forests themselves
and have been reported in Brazil, Russia,
Indonesia, Australia, Africa, India
and many other countries.
Forest fires, destructive flora and
fauna of the region, disturb
the biodiversity ecology
and the environment,
leading to an increase in air pollution.
In most of the incidents, tracking forest
fires difficult due to the large terrain,
and therefore there are delays in
driving a firefighting plan.
We have been using a technology
solution from NASA,
called “FIRMS” Fire Information
for Resource Management System,
which provides active fire data
for near monitoring through satellite
fire maps and tracking.
We have formed a 24 across seven forest
patrolling team led by our operations
director. The team consists of
the students and villagers of
the region who serve as eyes
and years to avoid such mishaps
with proactive planning
and enhanced community participation.
The program has been a success
in reducing the forest fires.
It has further been validated
by NASA and FIRMS itself,
where it’s quite visible that
whenever our team operated
the forest fire incidents occurred in
single digits or were none but a good.
Actually, the rock star of famous good
seeing in this regard translates to
nature protects when she’s protected.
Let this model guide us in all our
conservation efforts from here on,
and we would be glad to share our
knowledge resources with the rest of
the world. So keep planting trees
and making planet greener.
Thank you so much.