Environment chain for generations: Jayaraj

In 2010, director Jayaraj began the project Birds Club International to encourage the young generation to strike a chord with nature. His aim was to create 1 lakh rain groves / mini forests across the state and thus revive the ecological balance we had been losing. Schools such as Mar Baselios Public School, Kottayam joined him in the first phase devoting space for a mini forest. The mission — Mazhathuruthukal/ Rain groves — is still on. Two weeks ago, the government sanctioned their proposal to make rain groves compulsory in government colleges. “That will help the venture a lot,” says Jayaraj, who has created a mini forest at his home in Kottayam. “We have given a request to implement the same in schools.  In future, we will expand it to other states. We have already commenced it outside the country.”

The project comes under the Jayaraj Foundation. They took ‘one lakh’ as the target to make the mission more passionate. “We would work aggressively only if there is an aim,” says Jayaraj. “The challenges we are facing now won’t get solved if we plant one or two trees on the Environment Day. We should restore the ecological balance and for that, we need to fence an area (minimum 1 cent) and protect it. The forest we create should serve as an abode for birds and other living things,” he explains. Strict monitoring is carried out regularly to keep the project live and assess its growth. “We plant various kinds of saplings in the protected area and document the development properly. The members of the birds club would take photos of saplings and measure their growth at regular intervals. Also, we make sure that the group members meet on every third Saturday and discuss a particular topic given to them. They have to send us a note,” Jayaraj explains. They also do short films and organise workshops and photography contests.

Jayaraj believes that the young generation has a penchant for nature. He realised that when they launched the project at the PTM College in Perinthalmanna. “The students created a WhatsApp group and started sharing photos of nature and birds instead of mere forwards. That was an eye-opener.” So far they have implemented the project in 28 spaces. Today, they are planning to expand it to 250 places. In his opinion, if we prepare a space, the forest will emerge naturally. He has plans to approach the government and put a proposal to turn unused land into forests.  He also hopes that it would create an environment chain through generations. “By the time they leave their institution, it would be a part of their life.”