Tribals help regain forest

Vadodara: A group of tribal villagers in Chhota Udepur have pulled off a massive forestation effort that has brought back green cover that was lost few years ago.
Bhilpur, a far flung hamlet in the tribal district, was only surrounded by dry hillocks after miscreants mercilessly chopped down large number of trees planted years ago and green cover was on the verge of extinction.However, thanks to the efforts and care of these villages, the village is lush with nearly seven lakh trees.
With the help of forest department, the villagers have added three lakh trees to the existing cover of four lakh trees.
"Trees that our forefathers had planted were chopped down by miscreants. Then a scenario arose when our village was just surrounded by huge rocks. It was then that we decided to grow trees as we were aware of the benefits of green cover," said village head Vikram Varshan.
Encouraged by the plantation results, the state forest department chose Bhilpur as the first village to form a conservation committee 15 years ago.
"Ours was the first village to be approached by the government seeking support for forest conservation. In 2000, I received a communique from the forest officials asking us to form a conservation committee consisting of villagers with the support of forest officials to safeguard the woodland," said Mursinh Rathwa, a villager who heads the committee.
"Under the committee, as group of 10 villagers including men, women and children has been formed who take turns to guard the vegetation" R C Rathwa, Chhota Udepur range forest officer.
"Due to wood thefts in the past, there is reduction in the number of animals in the forest. These lawbreakers target animals such as peacock, rabbit, deer and cheetah for economic benefit," added Rathwa.
The reforestation has even had financial benefits for the villagers. "Most of us earn living by selling 'bidi' made of 'timru' leaves. Dry leaves are used to make 'pattals' (leaf plates). Depending on the weed quality, we feed them to animals," added Varshan.