In an effort to create awareness about environment and ecology among students, the Forest department is planning to create ‘green spaces’ in and around government schools in every taluk across the State.
According to officials, in each selected school, three to four acres of government land will be developed into a model ‘green school forest’ by planting saplings and medicinal plants. The programme will be taken up in association with the Education department to encourage students to plant and nurture saplings such as mango, sapota, jamoon among others. Gooseberries and other such medicinal plants will also be grown.
The Forest department will sanction Rs five lakh to each school selected for the ‘Talukige Ondu Hasiru Shalavana’ initiative, which will be implemented in five years. Initially, six government schools will be selected for the project and the department will carry out all the groundwork involved in creating the green space such as digging trenches, providing saplings and fencing.
The green space will be developed on the school premises if sufficient land is available within the campus. If not, government or forest land within a three to four-km radius from the institution will be identified.
Maintenance
The responsibility of maintaining the green space will be entrusted to the respective school and students will be given the responsibility to protect and monitor the growth of a few saplings. Students will also be encouraged to approach the jurisdictional forest range officer or staff for guidance. The aim is to help students build linkages between the knowledge gained from textbooks and their surroundings and expose them to the environment, officials said.
