Efforts should be taken to include tree planting and nurturing in the school curriculum to create a bonding between students and nature, said actor Vivekh, who launched the second edition of the Isha Project Green Hands programme at Voorhees College, Vellore, on Thursday.

Mr. Vivekh distributed seed packs to students, who would plant, nurture and grow them at designated places to give the locality a green cover.

Gift to community

He advised students to ask for tree, plants along with cycles and motorcycles from their parents to serve the community, which would help in covering more areas with trees in the future, he said.

He recalled the advice of former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to ensure more tree cover to combat global warming.

With help from various agencies, Mr. Vivekh said the task of nurturing 33 lakh trees and reaching 1 crore tree saplings was possible with the help of programmes like Isha Project Green Hands.

District Collector S.A. Raman said records indicate that Vellore had good tree cover in the past and the government was taking initiatives in restoring it.

He applauded the efforts of Isha for cultivating the habits of planting treesand also congratulated Mr. Vivekh for his contributions.

Joint venture

District Chief Education Officer, S. Mars said, “I am delighted to see that a joint venture by the School Education Department and Isha Project Green Hands, has successfully completed its first year. Under this initiative, the students have reached great heights by creating and planting 3,11,000 saplings. This year the aim will be 4 lakh.”

Isha Green School Movement would plant 4 lakh saplings in Vellore and 10,000 students from 200 schools would be trained in handling nurseries.

Coordinator Swami Rabhya said, “Over 35 schools in Vellore took up the cause during the last academic year. Another 165 schools will be inducted into this project for this year. Nearly 10,000 students will be trained in raising saplings.”

The movement joined hands with the Tamil Nadu School Education Department to bring environmental awareness to schoolchildren and train them in raising saplings.