Have you heard of a unique Tree adopting experiment being run in Uttarakhand?

A group of individuals in Kolkata under the banner of 'Sustainable Green Initiative' (SGI) are encouraging people from India & abroad to buy a tree sapling and its after-care, planted by them in Uttarakhand(by SGI).  The idea behind the business model is simple - SGI plants trees in Uttarakhand and then asks people to adopt it by paying some money. According to SGI, the unique experiment gives satisfaction to the tree sapling adopter, fights global warming (as these trees are part of a national campaign) and helps marginal & BPL farmers earn extra money to support their livelihood by selling fruits.

People have appreciated this unique experiment. SGI tree saplings are already getting popular as birthday gifts. The teenager can easily track his/her sapling planted in his/her name in a far-off Uttarakhand village through Google Earth. As proof of plantation, each sapling is photographed and geo-tagged with the longitude and latitude metadata embedded into a digital image. The image is then uploaded onto a public database and can be viewed on Google Earth or any exif map viewers, informs SGI founder Raj Mohan.

Among the notable Uttarakhand-ites adopting a tree sapling are celebrated author Ruskin Bond and advertising guru Swapan Seth.

SGI, in partnership with local NGOs, started their maiden plantation drive with 2000 apple trees in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand earlier this year.
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