20 July, 2017
The monsoons are here and the world is looking a little greener. For the last eight years, Tata Motors has been contributing to the green cover, as a part of its consistent tree plantation drive, which started on June 5, 2009, World Environment Day.
The success of this drive is plain to see. In the last three years alone, i.e. from FY14-FY17, the company has successfully planted 253,000 saplings in India in association with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). The tree plantation drive falls under Project Vasundhara, one of Tata Motors’ key CSR activities.
Project Vasundhara was launched to promote environmental protection and a sustainable ecosystem. It works in partnership with NGOs and local communities around Tata Motors’ manufacturing units and offices, and also encourages employee volunteering in this green space.
Here are a few recent success stories from Project Vasundhara.
Forest field trips for students
Tata Motors and the BNHS reached out to over 6,000 students across 45 government-aided schools in Mumbai to create awareness about environmental conservation and sustainability. During a forest nature trail field trip, students were introduced to local flora and fauna. They were also given information on biogas, waste management, importance of water for life on earth, and other sustainability topics.
Growing your own food
Kitchen gardening is about growing our own food that is organic, pesticide-free and safer for consumption. Students got a demonstration of this, along with booklets summarising the benefits of kitchen gardening and tips for plant care. Each student pledged to plant five saplings in their home or school, thus putting their learning into action.
Regreening of Warje
The Warje Urban Forestry Site near Pune was once a barren 16-acre plot. Since 2015, Tata Motors’ volunteers have planted 9,000 indigenous saplings at Warje, transforming it into a green space rich in diverse biodiversity, including a number of plant, animal, bird and insect species. With a 98% survival rate of the saplings planted, the project stands as a grand success among Tata Motors’ CSR activities. Warje now hosts as many as 500 visitors daily who enjoy a morning or evening walk in the lap of nature. Tata Motors volunteers regularly visit the site to help nurture and develop it. For this project, Tata Motors collaborated with Technology, Education, Research and Rehabilitation for the Environment (TERRE) Policy Centre, an international environmental organisation.
Greening of schools
TERRE and Tata Motors also demonstrated environment preservation for students of Rani Laxmi Bai Sainik School in Pune by planting 600 saplings in the school grounds. Similar programmes are being held in other schools in Pune, in order to spread awareness of the need for environment preservation amongst young minds.
Fruit trees for livelihood
In FY16-17, Tata Motors partnered with Maharashtra-based NGO, Prasad Chikitsa for plantation of over 1,000 crop saplings including mango, jamun, guava, jasmine and more in 13 villages in Maharashtra. With a 90% survival rate, the project was a great success and benefitted many farmers.
Reforestation drive
Tata Motors partnered with Maharashtra-based NGO, Aroehan for planting saplings in 20 forest areas in Maharashtra. In FY16-17, about 9,730 saplings were planted; about 9,031 saplings survived, which was a highly successful drive. The reforestation activities include sapling transplantation, fencing of orchards, earthing, fertiliser application, building trenches, monitoring, training and reports on tree mortality. Reforestation is another key Tata Motors CSR activity.
