TEDx Talks - Climate Change: How to Involve the Community | Debashis Sen | TEDxIMIKolkata
Amitav Ghosh, a literary author, urged world leaders to focus on community-based services to combat climate change, highlighting that while initiatives like carbon credits are beneficial, local community solutions are more effective. An example from New Town, Kolkata, illustrates this approach. Initially, tree planting initiatives failed due to lack of maintenance. To address this, rules were established requiring community involvement in maintaining green spaces. Innovative ideas emerged, such as immunity gardens during COVID-19, and various themed gardens like guava and honeybee gardens. The community was engaged through competitions and programs linking personal milestones with planting trees, such as gifting saplings for newborns and creating memory parks for the deceased. Additionally, a Tall Tree Nursery was established to provide mature trees for planting, ensuring better survival rates. Urban farming was mandated on rooftops to reduce carbon footprints. These initiatives led to New Town being recognized as a Platinum-rated Green City, highlighting the success of community-driven environmental efforts.
Key Points:
- Community-based solutions are essential for effective climate change action.
- Innovative local projects, like themed gardens, enhance community engagement.
- Rules requiring community maintenance of green spaces ensure sustainability.
- Tall Tree Nursery provides mature trees, improving planting success rates.
- Urban farming on rooftops reduces carbon footprint and promotes local produce.
Details:
1. 📢 Amitav Ghosh's Call to Action on Climate Change
- Amitav Ghosh calls for a focus on community-based services to effectively combat climate change, urging world leaders to prioritize these solutions over conventional methods.
- While recognizing the benefits of carbon credits, he stresses that they should not overshadow the critical role of community-driven initiatives.
- Ghosh advocates for actionable strategies that empower local communities, suggesting that these approaches can lead to more sustainable and impactful climate action.
- He highlights examples of successful community-based projects, pointing out their scalability and adaptability to different regions.
2. 🌳 Early Tree Plantation Challenges and Solutions
- An initiative aimed to plant 10,000 trees annually, successfully engaging community participation in initial events.
- Post-event challenges included inadequate watering, fertilization, mulching, and pest control, leading to poor tree survival rates.
- To address these issues, the organization deployed its own gardeners to ensure proper maintenance and care, which improved survival rates by 50%.
- The initial lack of follow-up care was identified as a critical gap, leading to the redesign of the program to include structured maintenance plans.
3. 🌱 Innovative Community Greening Initiatives
- A comprehensive inventory of all green spaces in New Town Kolkata ensures effective use, adhering to a master plan that requires 30% of plot areas to be green.
- Community engagement is fostered through rules mandating participants to maintain planted areas for 11 months without commercial profit, promoting sustainability.
- Innovative ideas emerged, such as immunity gardens during the pandemic and gardens focusing on specific plants like guava, honeybee, and dragon fruit.
- A bamboo plantation was initiated for its high oxygen output, resulting in an 'oxygen walk' area to promote health and wellness.
4. 👶👴 Programs for Lifelong Community Engagement
4.1. Birth and Growth Initiatives
4.2. Elderly Engagement Programs
4.3. Memorial and Survivor Initiatives
5. 🌿 Tall Tree Nursery: A Unique Solution
- The Tall Tree Nursery was developed to improve sapling survival rates, with trees grown to at least 6 ft to ensure better survival, addressing the high mortality rate of smaller saplings.
- Initiated in collaboration with the forest department, the nursery also included a floating solar energy plant to promote renewable energy among workers.
- The initiative has been successful, attracting visitors from New Town, Salt Lake, and beyond, due to the high quality of tall trees available.
- Online services have expanded the nursery's reach, making it accessible to a larger audience beyond local regions.