Viraast-e-Darakht, an initiative of an IFS officer Vidya Bhushan Kumar, head of Forest Force and Principal Chief Conservator of forest Punjab, is an attempt of conserving heritage trees which are more than a hundred years old. Punjab Forest and Wildlife Department would maintain trees’ health card and would create destination tourism around such heritage trees.
A 100-year-old tree of heritage value carries an economic value of Rs 1 Crore. Punjab has 1200 such trees which are yet to be conserved. Uniform Informative Signages detailing the owner’s name, QR code, its historical value, cultural, and environmental importance will be fixed on the Signage of the heritage tree for the awareness of the people. Any interesting anecdotes related to the heritage tree will also be displayed on the signage.
IFS Kumar said, “This scheme aims to not only conserve heritage trees in Punjab but also to create awareness regarding the value of such trees in common citizens. As far as possible heritage tree shall not be marked for felling for developmental purposes. If a heritage tree is proposed to be felled for developmental work, then special permission from an expert committee specially constituted for this purpose shall be taken under the scheme.”
The objective of the scheme is to protect unidentified Heritage trees with the participation of people / NGOs / Panchayat / religious and under the Heritage tree Protection Scheme. Technical support in the management and protection of Heritage trees will be provided by the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation. Heritage Tree Certificate, bearing QR code, detailing its Historical, Cultural and Environmental importance/value and detail of its owner will also be given. Viraasat-e-Darakht Scheme will be launched in two phases. Initially, only those 100 Heritage trees will be taken who fulfill the criteria like maximum age historical, cultural, environmental importance, species, and geographical representation.
As per Officials Heritage trees in Punjab will be identified based on age, historical. cultural and environmental importance. Estimating age will be done by the scientific method and feedback of local people, historical records, environmental studies/research papers, etc.
Heritage trees will be protected through various measures. To protect them from physical damage, the department will do suitably designed fencing (if required) depending upon site conditions and consent of the owner, keeping in view its cultural and other importance. With the help of expert institutions like FRI/PAU, suitable treatment will also be provided to the heritage tree in case of any disease. A state-level committee of experts will advise special protection measures for the protection of heritage trees.
As per the rough estimate, there are approximately 1200 heritage trees in Punjab which are hundreds years old and more, and also have historical, cultural and environmental importance. In phase one of the scheme, 100 trees will be taken for identification and other interventions during the current financial year 2021-22. Phase one of 100 trees will be further divided into two parts of four months each (Part I: August 2021 to November 2021 and Part II: December 2021 to March 2022.). Fifty trees will be taken for intervention in part 1 of the scheme from August to December 2021. Funding of this scheme is proposed in Greening Punjab Mission.