More green spaces should be set up to make the State carbon-neutral, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. He was inaugurating through videoconference here on Thursday 1,261 Pachathuruthu (green islets) set up by the Haritha Kerala Mission across the State.
Mr. Vijayan said against a target of 1,000 islets, the mission could set up 1,261. Every year, more such spaces should be set up. If there was no common land, Pachathuruthu should be promoted on land owned by people interested in greening the earth.
On 454 acres
The setting up of green spaces across 454 acres in the State was an investment in our future, Mr. Vijayan said. With trees, shrubs, medicinal plants, and biofencing in one place, these were small models of biodiversity. The project envisaged not only planting of saplings but also their nurture for three years. MGNREGS workers, local conservation committees, and students were all part of the initiative.
Suitable plants
Each green space was set up by selecting plants suitable to the area. The first Pachathuruthu in the State at Vengode at Pothencode in Thiruvananthapuram had rare medicinal plants grown with the support of JNTBGRI, Palode. In some places, there was only bamboo, and in others, fruit-bearing trees. In the backwaters and on beaches, mangroves were planted. Sacred groves were expanded to create Pachathuruthu in some places.
A visible change
The initiative, Mr. Vijayan said, had created a visible difference in the ecosystem in the past one year. The mangroves planted at Kumarakom had increased the fish wealth there. In other spaces, birds and insects had benefited.
C. Divakaran, MLA, planted a tree sapling at the 1,261st greenhouse that was completed in Nedumangad block in the district. T.N. Seema, executive vice chairperson of Haritha Kerala Mission, was present.
