We all thrive on sunshine, we are dependent on water for survival, and we are dependent on vegetation and greenery. No matter however high-tech we have become, we need to live in sync with nature. We need to build a stronger relationship with nature. Greenery is the one thing we cut out on every corner for constructing houses, buildings, bridges etc., yet it is the one thing we spend every day fighting to live with.

For all of us three things are most essential for life: clean air, clean water and healthy food. All of them are directly linked to plant life. Because plants produce oxygen, plant clean and retain water, and plants form the basis of our entire food chain. They do this very silently and continuously. We take them for granted because we often forget that that quiet trees, or that little greenery planted in our window is actually working very hard for us.

Recently I came across a WhatsApp message: a man from Akluj, in Solapur District, Maharashtra State who is a regular traveler from Akluj to Mumbai, never discards fruit seeds; instead of throwing away the fruit seeds (especially custard apples) he washes them, cleans them and throws them on barren lands/valleys/farms etc while travelling. This kindhearted man has mentioned in one of his interviews in a local newspaper: it seems he buys custard apples each time from the fruit sellers on the roadside during his travels. He casually asked them from where they purchase the fruits, and to his surprise the fruit sellers told him that they pluck fruits from trees grown in the valleys and roadside trees. This gentleman was overwhelmed with their response……..his efforts have borne fruits. He says don’t throw seeds away.

Many kind hearted people have been sending messages on social media about germinating fruit seeds instead of throwing them away in waste, my request to all is kindly don’t throw the seeds, wash them and keep it in a plastic pouch in your vehicles, whenever you go out and find barren land while travelling, on a highway throw these seeds. They will simply germinate in the monsoon. In many towns people have adapted this idea and have seen great results. Let’s have abundance in nature this way. Let’s make it a mission. Let’s have good future for our next generation. Don’t throw the seeds away.

I read Dr V Raj Shekar Tummala’s interview in Hindu newspaper – he is a senior scientist and ecologist. He says that the seeds of summer fruits such as mango, jackfruit, jamun germinate when thrown in barren land, only if they are soaked in water and the seed coats must be removed before they are sown. A bit of care needs to be taken, which I think is not a problem. We can do this easily.

Recently, I read the blog of Konstantinos Karoubas, in which he has mentioned that In October, November and December of 2013, he and his team placed about 20,000 almond and apricot seeds in the ground in different locations in North Greece, near Thessaloniki and the South Greece near Sparta. Elevations varied from 200 to 1100 meters. They were places at 8 different locations. The climate in each area is different. Although, the climate of Greece is typically Mediterranean, it depends on the location. The record hot and record cold temperatures are 48°C or 118°F (the hottest in mainland Europe, in Athens) and -29.9°C or -21°F (in the north-west city of Florina, commonly referred to as the coldest area in Greece), respectively.

It costs around 3.5 cents (euros) to buy the seeds and the labor to place them. They placed around 200 to 250 seeds per hour in the ground in flat terrain. In difficult terrain this drops down to 60 to 100 per hour and the cost increases.

When he visited the locations after six months in Northern Greece near Thessaloniki, where he had  planted hundreds of almond and apricot seeds, and a couple cactus pads were placed on the ground – the results were very, very encouraging. More than 90% of the trees survived the long hot summer. In his own words, he found this very amazing, almost a miracle. He mentions that his team’s effort to find ways to economically reforest and improve the soil in Greece have a very positive impact, and they all feel great. Karoubas and his team are monitoring the plantations and are making efforts rigorously to reforest.

Do you know that, the color of the Year 2017 is greenery! It has been announced by the Pantone Color Institute – they are called the authority on colors. The institute helps organizations make the most informed decisions about color for their brands, logos, mascots or designs. Whether it is color trend, forecasting or brand color development. The Pantone Color Institute can guide you through the development of a color strategy that fits your company’s unique needs.

The color of 2017 is full of life, a renewed sense of nature and the bright, cheery mood the world desperately needs, that’s how the color of greenery was chosen. In the year 2017 let greenery come shining into the world with vigor and surprise. While the message they have given balances both societal and political nuances. This happy-go-lucky shade cannot be disliked by anybody. It’s full of life, it’s refreshing, and it’s a breezy color of springtime. If anybody dislikes the color, it is like hating the morning sunshine peeking out from behind the hills.

Have you ever wondered how the world would look like without trees? Try to imagine a barren earth……… it’s so, so scary. Trees are a crucial factor to our existence, they serve an important role in the carbon cycle. Let us all join hands to grow more plants on this planet. Let’s take simple steps, let’s not throw the seeds of fruits, flowers in dustbins, let us store them and throw in barren lands, farms, roadside greenery, gardens and backyards. Seeds are life, I think we have lost connection with the life-giving properties of seeds. We are so immersed in our highly commercial and materialistic culture, that we are losing connect with the nature.

Why Jungle safaris are beautiful?

The terrains in jungles are grand; they consist of grassland, small hills, bushes, water bodies, wild flowers, big sky-high trees and a wide variety of fauna. Most jungles have unknown plants and flowers. In every corner of the jungles you can hear the humming of wonderful birds and sounds of water flowing widely. The jungle has its own charm. Once you enter them, you are in the animal kingdom. The safaris take you on a wild ride which often is bumpy; from the open jeep you can watch variety of birds, animals, trees, flowers. Here, in the wild land, monkeys jump from branch to branch, milliards of insects bustle around, and some unknown animals move through the wilderness making a strange noise. The jungle has its own scent because of the wild yet scenic flora and fauna.  Once you love the rugged terrain, the denseness of jungle I think nothing else is as beautiful as the jungle safari!!

Advisable in jungle safaris:

It is advisable to wear clothes which cover the arms and legs so that if you come in contact with insects or wild animals, you don’t catch an allergy. Wearing layers of clothing is also a good idea. Blend your Clothes with Nature. Stay Calm. Be composed and calm when inside the jungle. It is extremely important that you should stick to your group, headed by a naturalist. Travel light, only pack what you need inside the jungle. Do not forget to carry a good camera so that you can click some good photographs of the flora and fauna.

Other Necessary Items in Jungle Safaris

Raincoat, mosquito repellent, antiseptic creams, water bottle, band-aids, a small torch, first-aid kit, personal hygiene products and similar kind of items. Do not forget to carry sunhats, sunglasses and sunscreen to keep you safe from sun rays and sunburns. Wear covered comfortable shoes along with socks. Wearing exposed footwear might be a bad idea.

What not to do? Don’t Feed the Animals. Please do not litter. The jungle is home to the wild animals, thus, it is best that you do not litter your garbage here and there and dirty their home. Stay alert. If you see any visitor or staff doing any wrong, report it as soon as it is possible. Do not get too close to animals in order to observe them closely. Don’t talk loudly. No Loud Talks. The forest is not a place for long talks or conversation. It is wiser not to take small children or infants into the jungle as it is sometimes not possible to keep them calm. Please do not create any disturbance for the wild animals while taking videos or clicking photographs. Keep calm and turn off the flash on your camera. Stay away from using any flammable substances during your jungle safari.  Last, but he least, it is advisable to keep your cell phones in your hotel room. If you are carrying them with you inside the jungle, keep them switched off or on silent mode.

Thanks to James Edward Corbett for starting a movement of saving wildlife in India. This Gentleman was a British-Indian hunter and tracker. He later turned conservationist. He wrote novels. ’Jim’ as he was fondly called, held a rank of colonel in the British Indian Army. He was often called by the then Government to kill the man-eating tigers and leopards in Garhwali and Kumaon regions which was then called United Province. Later on in his life, Jim Corbett became an avid photographer and spoke out for the need to protect India’s wildlife from extinction and played a key role in creating a national reserve for the endangered Bengal tiger, by using his influence to persuade the provincial government to establish what was called Hailey National Park. In 1957, the park was renamed Jim Corbett National Park in his honour.

Natural Conservation: We must for our own selfish interests allow the natural wild life survive. Understand the importance of it. The concepts of national park, wildlife sanctuary and wildlife conservation are no longer new in our country. Thanks to the electronic and social media which have been playing an important role in nature conservation. Many people misunderstand wildlife as tigers and lions; then there are those who think a national park is like a zoo or a public garden, or that it is surrounded by a high wall or a fence designed to control the movements of wild animals. People are under illusion that wild animals can survive on their own in these backwoods areas as indeed they have done since time immemorial, and therefore, such areas need no systematic, scientific management inputs. Only a few know that wildlife management is a specialized field with details of its own, and very few can appreciate even the basic hard work that goes into making a success of wildlife conservation in a national park or wildlife sanctuary.

We must make immediate efforts to educate little kids at the school level about importance of natural environment in terms of importance of jungles and wild life.  They must be taught to appreciate the nature. Children must be taught about wildlife management; it is not a basic science, nor is it pure technology. It draws upon several disciplines including zoology, botany, ecology and even mathematics. It integrates a wide range of disciplines in logical, imaginative and pragmatic ways and, therefore, can be regarded as both a science and an art, whose practice is not very different from other professional courses such as medicine or law.

India is blessed with national parks such as Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, Hemis National Park in Ladakh on a high attitude, Jim Corbett in Uttarakhand, Bandhavgarh, Pench and Kanha in Madhya Pradesh, Gir in Gujrat, Kaziranga and Manas in Assam, Periyar in Kerala, Sunderban in West Bengal and Tadoba in Maharashtra.

The population of the tiger which was believed to be around 40,000 by some experts only a century ago was down to only 1,827 animals by 1972. The Asiatic lion, which adorns the country’s national emblem, is today confined to a small pocket in the Gir forests of Gujarat. A number of deer species like the Hangul of Kashmir, the Barasingha of Madhya Pradesh, the brow-antlered deer of Manipur, and antelope like the Himalayan – all adorn the list of endangered species.

In fact, the brow-antlered deer whose number in the wild was estimated to be only 18 in 1977 has the dubious distinction of being the most endangered deer in the world. Blackbuck, the graceful antelope of the Indian plains, was found in its thousands barely 50 years ago. It is now confined to small pockets where it survives only under strict protection. The Great Indian Bustard and the White-winged Wood Duck have dwindled to precarious numbers. The beautiful Siberian Crane is a winter visitor to the Bharatpur Sanctuary in Rajasthan. Its visit to this sanctuary dwindled to just 41 birds, as reported, in the winter of 1978-79. The Gangetic gharial, the marsh mugger and the estuarine crocodile have all been hunted down to near extinction. These are only a few examples; there are many more species of wild animals and birds that are on the verge of extinction.

If we are complacent towards conservation many of these beautiful creatures will be wiped out in the near future.

I am labeling the Lonar Crater Lake mysterious because even citizens of Maharashtra hardly know of this splendid lake. It’s a saline and alkaline lake located at Lonar in Buldhana district in Maharashtra, India. This lake was created by a meteor impact about 52,000 years ago. Geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, naturalists and astronomers have reported several studies on the various aspects of this Crater Lake ecosystem. Lonar Lake has a mean diameter of 1.2 kilometres (3,900 ft) and is about 137 metres (449 ft) below the crater rim. The lake is 150 meters deep.

For all of its exclusiveness, very few people in Maharashtra have heard of it apart from locals and sporadic trekkers. This is the largest lake on earth created by hyper-velocity impact hollow in basaltic rock. Every year about 30,000 – 1,50,000  meteors plunge towards the Earth; but none of them have managed to create a lake like Lonar. It seems Lonar Lake has prompted NASA scientists and officials from the Geological Survey of India to attempt answers to questions like: 1. Why is the lake alkaline and saline at the same time? 2. How does it support micro-organisms which are rarely found elsewhere on Earth? 3. Why do compasses fail to work in certain parts of the crater? 4. What lurks at the bottom of the lake?

The lake is surrounded by jungle spread with Teak trees. A belt of large trees about a mile broad runs all round the basin; this belt is formed of concentric rings of different species of trees. A ring of date-palms followed by a ring of Tamarind trees, another ring of Babul trees, bounded on the inside by a belt of bare muddy space. This space is several hundred meters yards broad, devoid of any vegetation due to the soda content of the water and covered with a whitish slippery soil. During the rainy season, this soil drains into the lake. The water of the lake contains various salts or sodas, and during dry weather when evaporation reduces the water level when large quantities of soda are collected. Two small streams drain into the lake, and a well of sweet water is located on the southern side, close to the water’s edge. Small and medium sized hills surround the lake.

The Lonar crater was first discovered by British Officer J E. Alexander. The Lonar Lake has sky-blue water surrounded by the vast expanse of emerald green forest.  Forget the scientific angle; this destination also has much to offer the wildlife enthusiasts as it is liberally endowed in both flora and fauna. The crater is home to hundreds of peafowl, chinkara and gazelles, which surf amongst the shrubs and bushes ringing the lake. Other residents include egrets, moor hens, herons, coots, white-necked storks, lapwings, grey wagtails, grebes, black droungos, green bee-eaters, tailorbirds, magpies and robins – as well as numerous species of migratory birds that often visit the place.

I recommend readers to visit this meteoric lake at least once; it’s worth seeing with your eyes how powerful the nature is. Winter is the ideal time to visit Lonar. The climate is pleasurable from November to January. We visited Lonar Crater Lake in January 2015. Craters are a rare phenomenon; you find very few on earth. Besides Lonar it seems there are hardly 10 or 11 crater lakes in world. The best route to reach Lonar is from Aurangabad via Jalna.