Currently, the district of Gaya in Bihar is one of the 11 out of 33 districts that contributes to the state’s forest cover, which is at an all-time low mark of 7.75% (recommended= 33%). Bihar has undergone forest degradation at a substantial rate in recent years. This is due to a variety of reasons, one of them being diversion of forested land for non-forestry purposes such as tourism, developmental projects and agriculture.
Gaya, in particular, is one of the tourism hotspots of Bihar, with several century-old monasteries dating back to the Magadha empire.
Svadhyaya in an attempt to contribute to rejuvenating the forests of Bihar held its first very fundraiser-cum-Plantation Campaign in Gaya, Bihar.
During the campaign, one of our members Sonu, a resident of Gaya, along with his team interacted with the students at Gaya University and discussed an important issue of depreciating green cover due to increased tourism and developmental activities
As a part of the fundraiser-cum-plantation campaign, the idea of #₹60ForATree was implemented, wherein, for every donation made of 60₹ and above, Svadhyaya would plant a tree on the donor’s behalf.
To ensure an impactful plantation drive in mid-March, we plan on organising several such events in a duration of two months, to raise the level of awareness and youth participation in ecological conservation.