Joygopalpur Gram Vikash Kendra
JGVK,SUNDARBAN

Plantation

From its very inception, Joygopalpur Gram Vikash Kendra (JGVK) has been laying stress upon plantation activities in its intervention area and thereby achieving all the four types of ecosystem services rendered by plants as categorized in Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005). As aptly accredited nationally, JGVK- the crusader against environmental and biodiversity degradation- in all its activities promotes the cause of environment protection. So, with the aim at attaining the overall ecosystem services of provisioning (nutrition and food security, etc), supporting (nutrient cycles, nitrogen fixing and oxygen production, etc), regulating (disease and climate control, carbon dioxide sequestration, etc) and cultural (spiritual and recreational, etc) apart from the specific ones like embankment protection, economic augmentation, utility raw material and myriad other NTFPs, we have been planting nearly 10000 plants every year in and around Basanti Block.

In last 20 years, JGVK has planted several mango (Mangifera Indica), lemon (Citrus Limon), guava (Psidium Guajava), drumstick (Moringa Oliera), java apple (Syzygium Samarangense), sugar apple (Annona Squamosa), Arjun (Terminalia Arjuna) through SHGs with an aim to promote their family food and nutrition security apart from providing opportunities for income enhancement. The initial thankless initiatives of JGVK have later been recognized by and percolated to local SHGs and CSR donors as well. The SHGs promote nursery by themselves

with active support from JGVK and supply saplings to many others for plantation. So did the CSR donors who come down to Basanti and distribute saplings to local poor families who plant and nurture those.

The students of VSN also develop nursery at school ground and are presented with various saplings and thereby inculcate the habit of planting and nurturing trees from their formative age.

Apart from planting the above mentioned trees, JGVK promotes the collection, nursery, plantation, nurturing and monitoring of mangrove and vetiver (Chrysopogon Zizanioides) grass for embankment protection, especially in villages situated beside rivers.