‘Forests within a city’ is set to be the new norm to shore up the green cover of Mysuru as the concept of urban forestry was officially launched here on World Environment Day on Wednesday.
The Forest Department launched the concept at Rose Garden adjoining the CFTRI and Hebbal lake in the industrial area where dense block plantation of saplings will be taken up to transform the place into a forest in the years ahead.
Though the lakes of Mysuru — notably Lingambudhi, Kukkarahallli, and Karanji — are green zones with dense vegetation, they are natural sites. This is the first time that the concept of urban forestry is being tried out on land, and open spaces reserved for lawns by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) will be taken up for bulk plantation of saplings. Deputy Conservator of Forests Prashanth Kumar said the saplings will not be the conventional ones that are a few inches in height but are about 8-ft tall.
“The survival rate of such saplings is 90%. Of the 30,000 such saplings, we can expect more than 25,000 to mature into full-fledged trees. The ones that perish will be replaced,” he said.
Indigenous species
The focus is on indigenous species which are both flower- and fruit-bearing varieties and do not require much water. While there are 25 species of saplings in Rose Gardens currently, this number will be increased to 100 species.
Nearly 1,000 saplings can be planted in Rose Garden and another 1,000 saplings in the Hebbal lake area which will be maintained by Infosys. The urban forestry concept entails dense planting of saplings within a gap of every 4 ft with another sapling that tends to grow in the shade.
Apart from MUDA parks, the Forest Department has identified Lalitadrinagar, KSRTC Layout, Vijayanagar 4th Stage, and J.P. Nagar as areas with potential to nurture urban forests. “These forests will not only serve to increase the green cover of Mysuru but will also serve as lung spaces,” said Mr. Kumar.
Various government institutions, including schools, have come forward to take up the plantation. About 10 schools which have ample open space have sought saplings under the ‘Maguvige ondu mara, shaalege ondu vana’ concept. Among the government departments, the Karnataka Police Academy has notched a plant survival rate of more than 95%. Nearly 2,000 saplings were planted last year and they are in good shape. An additional 1,000 will be planted this year.
As on date, 30,000 saplings about 8-ft tall are ready for planting and the authorities have plans to nurture and plant around 50,000 saplings next year. In addition, the authorities have around 9 lakh smaller saplings meant for public distribution — mainly to farmers —in rural areas.