8 lakh native oak trees planted in Nagaland’s Thetsumi village in 1 day

DIMAPUR — As many as 8 lakh native oak trees were planted at Thetsumi village in Phek district, as part of a community tree plantation event spearheaded by The Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA), on Monday.

The plantation drive was initiated in collaboration with the village leaders under tEA’s movement called ‘Trees for Wealth’ which aspires to plant 1 billion fruit trees and 2 billion non-fruit trees by 2050.

According to an update received here on Monday, a total of 520 people including residents of all the four khels or colonies of Thetsumi village took part in the plantation drive.

Strongly advocating the importance of tree plantations and driving home the importance of an initiative such as this, the village declared a local school holiday to ensure the presence of high school students at the event.

“Thetsumi village has committed to plant 1.5 million native oak trees across the 250-acre community land of ‘Khutsaphfu’. Today marked the first phase of this endeavour, resulting in the successful planting of 8 lakh native oak trees,” the update stated.

On the occasion, chairman of Thetsumi Village Council, Vetshe Tsuzuh, is said to have announced plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with tEA as a mark of the community’s commitment to safeguard the planted tress for the next 25 years.

Stating that nearly 45 percent of the community land had remained barren, Tsuzuh highlighted the challenges faced in the lead-up to the plantation drive and expressed gratitude to tEA for launching the programme.

“After persistent advocacy, the people of Thetsumi have rallied today to achieve something significant and reclaim our wastelands,” the update stated, quoting the village council chairman.

A team from tEA, led by CEO Neichute Doulo is said to have participated in the event.

Lauding Thetsumi village’s unity and leadership in the noble cause, Doulo expressed confidence in the longevity of the planted trees, saying that they would be carefully nurtured for centuries to come. This effort, he said, would contribute to the goal of planting 2 billion non-fruit trees and showcase Nagaland’s commitment towards global tree planting efforts.

Further, the update stated that over the last few weeks, tEA has been working towards engaging with community leaders and villages to take forward the mission of planting fruit trees and native pnats for economic prosperity and positive climate action.

The ‘Trees for Wealth’ movement is underway in Nagaland and Manipur, with over 20 lakh fruit trees and non-fruit trees planted so far. The transformative impact of this work will become visible in the next few years with the expected potential to transform rural landscape in the north-east region, it added.