Shah Rukh Khan: There used to be a lush green forest in front of my house. Where you now see buildings, once there were only trees. Nightingales used to sing in those trees.
(Bird sounds)
(Laughter)
We all say these things. We remember the greenery of the days gone by and even regret the fact that it’s gone. Yet soon enough we forget all about it, and life moves on.
Bengaluru based Shubhendu Sharma is not one of those who lives in regret. In fact, he's trying to bring back those wonderful times. Please join me in welcoming industrial engineer and eco-entrepreneur Shubhebdu Sharma, who has the drive to see and create better times -- Shubhendu Sharma. (Applause)
Shubhendu Sharma: I am an engineer, and until a couple of years ago I used to make cars for Toyota. That is where I met a Japanese scientist, Dr. Akira Miyawaki, who had come to make our factory pollution-free by planting a forest there. With him, we created a lush forest with 30,000 trees on 2.5 acres of land. I saw the forest grow rapidly, and I felt that this amazing way of making forests should not stay limited just to our factory. So I made a forest in my home, which looks something like this now.
(Applause)
After building a forest at home, I stopped making cars and started making forests. Since then, we have planted more than a hundred forests in 35 cities across the world. As compared to any other plantation drives, these forests have 30 times more trees that grow 10 times faster.
Before planting a forest in any new place, we first make a list of the trees growing in their natural forests and then classify them as per their height. Natural forests have soil that is usually damp, and they always have nutrients and dampness for plants. To make barren land as fertile as forests, we plow the land and add paddy, organic fertilizer, sugarcane, coconut husk into it, and then we plant saplings close to each other. We do it in such a way that small and big plants are planted together, We do it in such a way that small and big plants are planted together. By doing this we are able to create a multilevel forest. So all the area above the land is green. Plants planted in this kind of soil have roots that also grow fast. To protect the dampness of the soil, we cover it with a thick sheet of dry grass or hay. By watering the soil, we keep the dampness intact, we weed out the dry grass -- but we never trim or cut the trees. In two years, the forests become so dense that the sun’s rays cannot reach the ground. Because of this, the soil always stays damp. The dry leaves and twigs that fall become fertilizer for the same soil. In this forest all the trees, all the plants support each other and grow like a family. If the same trees had been planted individually, far from each other, they would never grow so fast.
In about ten years, these forests grow as much as a 100-year-old forest. I believe these forests attract rain-bearing clouds towards them, and the dampness these forests emit in turn creates clouds. By using only local materials, in a space meant to park six cars, at the price of just one iPhone, you can very easily create a 300-tree strong small forest.
(Applause)
This way of planting forests is not just my idea, it belongs to all of us. All the papers we use, the entire process of creating a forest, is available to everyone. By using this Kenya, Korea, America, India, Australia, people all over the world using the Miyawaki method are planting big and small forests. Getting back our lost forests through this new thinking we can improve our planet and our life.
(Applause)
So now wherever you see some barren land, remember that there can be a lush green forest right there.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)
