“Green Magic” Program Will Plant 10 Million Trees in India

Earth Day Network-India is actively supporting “Green Magic,” Rotary Club’s tree planting program that will plant 10 million trees in India. On July 29, 2012, Green Magic was launched in Kolkata. Over 2,500 school students participated in the launch event by planting a tree and taking a sapling home to plant. Members of the Rotary Club planted trees alongside the children and made it a landmark event in the history of environmentalism in the state of West Bengal. Many schools also participated in environmentally themed performances. Birla Boys High and Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan’s performances drew the loudest cheers from the audience. Many dignitaries attended the event, including Ministers of the Environment and Sports Department of West Bengal, sports personalities, and actors. The Chief Minister (governor) of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, supported the program, and her message, “I support Green Magic,” was on dozens of billboards across the city, in major newspapers, and visible all over the venue. EDN worked shoulder to shoulder with Rotary to reach out to hundreds of schools and grassroots organizations across the state of West Bengal to ensure wide participation in this powerful event. Planting trees is critical in India, where forest cover is down to around 20 percent. The program will help mitigate the adverse effects of global warming and, at the same time, improve the quality of life for people in many rural communities in India. More pictures of the event can be found on Earth Day Network-India’s Facebook page. Click here for information on Earth Day Network’s Canopy Project, through which we’re planting millions of trees worldwide.