Earth Day: Women Who Dedicated Their Lives To The Trees

Earth day is just around the corner and this is the best time to start a new initiative to work towards the well-being of our environment. However, Earth day shouldn’t be the only day when we think about our environment, instead we should do it all year long.

Here is a list of Indian women who are an inspiration for the society as they dedicated their lives to the trees. These women worked all their life to make our Earth a better place to live. Read on to know more about these inspiring women.

Prabha Devi

This 79 year old woman proved that age is just a number and you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. You will be surprised to know that she has planted a whole forest in her village and she is still at it even when she is approaching 80.

The village of Palashat which comes under the district of Rudraprayag now has an entire forest which is planted by her. The forest is located a few kilometers away from her home and she goes to the forest daily to work on it for the whole day. She has done her fair share to save the environment and we are proud of her.

Vandana Shiva

She is an environmentalist who has spent most of her life in defense of biodiversity. She is the founder of Navdanya which is a research institute that aims to protect the diversity and integrity of native seeds along with promoting fair trade practices.

This research institute was founded in 1991 and is dedicated to address the most important environmental and social justice issues. Women like Vandana Shiva are truly an inspiration for society.

Don't Miss:Unfiltered Interviews Of Mandira Bedi Where She Is An Inspiration To Women

Kollakkayil Devaki Amma

Kollakkayil Devaki Amma started the initiative of saving the environment with her own backyard. Her love for the environment and fear of climate change allowed her to curate a forest in the five acre distance around her home.

She was influenced by her grandfather as he was the one who helped her to inculcate a love for horticulture. Her love for the environment increased after marrying Gopalkrishna Pillai, an English teacher. This is because every woman in his family was required to do agricultural work.

She would help her mother-in-law but soon, she injured her leg. Her family supported her and lifted up her spirits and after three years, she planted a sapling. She told a publication that “ I used to enthusiastically participate in paddy cultivation. But, following the accident I was bedridden for almost three years and was forced to abandon rice cultivation. But it led to something more important. Helped by the family members, I started planting saplings 35 years ago. I never thought at that time the place would become a forest.”

Don't Miss:Housewife Turned Millionaire, Know The Remarkable Story Of Celebrity Chef Nita Mehta

Tulsi Gowda

An environmentalist from Honnali village, Ankola taluk in Karnataka was honoured by the government of India in 2021 with a Padma Shri as she has planted more than 30,000 saplings and looks after nurseries of the forest department.

Also known as the ‘Encyclopedia of Forest’ as she can recognize the mother tree of any species of tree, she has made immense contributions towards preserving the environment. She worked at the nursery till the age of 70 where she worked directly to aid the afforestation efforts by using her traditional knowledge.

For more such stories, stay tuned to HerZindagi!