The idea behind the campaign is to connect the villagers with environment emotionally and to protect the trees from illegal felling in their respective villages, the official said. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) Sanjiv Kumar kicked off the campaign from Arani village in Simdega district on Thursday.

“We had planned to utilize the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, being celebrated on Thursday and Friday this year, for this campaign. However, due to incessant rains in many parts of the state it could not be implemented on large scale. We have decided to cover all the identified villages on Friday under the campaign and create awareness among the villagers that trees are keys to their survival and sustainability,” he told PTI.

In Lohardaga district, forest officials and villagers led by divisional forest officer (DFO) Arvind Kumar celebrated the festival of Raksha Bandhan by tying Rakhis to trees at Maoist hit Kisku block’s Pakhar, Chorgai and Bagru village on Thursday.

“Today, protecting the trees from tree smugglers is a big challenge. We have to protect the trees for oxygen, good rainfall and healthy environment,” the Lohardaga DFO said.

Sanjiv Kumar was the first to launch the drive of tying Rakhis to tree in Dhanbad’s Maoist hit Tundi block in 2005 when he was posted as divisional forest officer (DFO) of Dhanbad. Later, he introduced it in around 500 villages under various districts including East Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharswan, Hazaribag, Koderma, Chatra and Giridih when he was posted in those districts.

The APCCF said it was decided to cover at least 1,000 villages under the mission this year across the state. From next year, it will be extended to more villages, he said.

“I have experienced that trees get protection and green cover increase where this campaign was launched. Trees could be saved by putting additional guards in forests, tightening monitoring or connecting the trees to people’s sentiment or emotion. I have seen the third option works better. If villagers are emotionally attached to trees or environment, they will save them automatically,” he said.

The APCCF said that the campaign has not only helped in water conservation but has also become a major source of livelihood based on minor forest produce for villagers who were earlier depended only on daily wage earning for survival. Besides, it has also helped regenerating forests to much extent.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday while inaugurating Tribal Festival in Ranchi also gave impetus on saving trees and animals.?

The forest department’s efforts reflect in the survey report of Forest Survey of India (FSI), which says that the state’s forest cover has increased by 744 sqkm in past one decade since 2011. The state’s forest cover has escalated to 23,721 sqkm, which is 29.76 per cent of total geographical area of the state, in FSI 2021 from 22,977 sqkm recorded in FSI 2011.

(With PTI inputs)