Ancient trees – Trees are the bona fide well-wishers of humankind from time immemorial.

But sadly, we humans are hostage to a narrow vision who only sees them as the wasted place and building supplies. They are beyond what meets the eye, forget the beauty, trees supply all the essentials for life and help balance the eco-system of the Mother Earth. Some trees however are hard to stare off for their exotic accent.

High time, humans should have realized the need to conserve these nearly extinct species of ancient trees and here are names of those few:

The Ancient trees –

1. The alley of the Baobabs:

In Madagascar, there is a place called the alley of the Baobabs which have six native species of Baobab trees. They are mostly found in forested areas and stand unscathed by the natural bushfires and agricultural expansion for their natural fire resistant bark. They don’t have annual rings to determine the age unlike other trees but they are nearly thousand years old.

2. The General Sherman:

General Sherman is an enormous tree and can be likened with the Indian Banyan tree for its massiveness. It belongs to the Sequoias family from which the most mass can be derived despite being a single stemmed tree. This 84 metres tall tree is to be found in the Sequoia National Park, California.

3. Old Tjikko:

This 16 metres tall tree is not as visually appealing because it lacks foliage on half of its stem. It is however the oldest individual clonal tree whose one trunk sceptically grows and perishes. This provides natural timber and mostly found in Fulufjället National Park, Sweden.

4. Tāne Mahuta:

The trees called Kauri that are possibly 2,500 years old and mostly found in New Zealand, their cream top is called Tāne Mahuta, Kauri is the largest and most esteemed among Pakeha, the descendants of European settlers among New Zealanders and Maori, indigenous people of New Zealand. These are staunchly called ‘Lord of the Forest’ for their auspicious bearings as per the mythology.

5. Sri Maha Bodhi:

You will see a lot of them in Bodhgaya, the religious pilgrimage for Buddhists. It flanks the Mahabodhi temple, where Budhha was known to achieve enlightenment. The tree is deemed pristine because presumably, Buddha sat under the tree to meditate. It is also believed that the tree aided Budhha’s enlightenment hence considered sacred by the Buddhists. This is a popular type of a Fig tree.

6. The Cotton Tree:

The Cotton Tree in Sierra Leone has a deep religious significance. The freed African American slaves who settled down in Circa around 1972, the tree stands souvenir to their ecstasy. They were allotted freedom after participating actively in the Europe-America war where they took part in the British side. This tree is witness to the first thanksgiving they held around it. It is still offered prayers by the native people.

7. The Boab Prison Tree:

This tree has a short, hollow, trunk where the n route aboriginal prisoners to be sentenced in Derby were kept hostage, hence the tree is infamous among recent Australian people. This tree is used now to store water for the dry months. Also, its leaves have high medicinal properties.

8. El Árbol del Tule (The Tree of Tule):

In Santa Maria Del Tule, Mexico, these trees are to be found mostly. It looks stout with a drum-like shape, so much so that you might mistake it for a boulder. This tree is a tourist sight now which is being adversely affected by too much human contact, the pollution emanating from the nearby vehicles is stuffing its roots.

9. Methuselah:

It is the longest, non-clonal, single tree of the world to be ever found in the World. It is 4800 plus years old and is an old type of Bristlecone Pine.

10. Oak Chapel of Allouvile-Bellofose:

This old Oak tree has been long ago converted into a Christian Worship place in the French town of Allouvile-Bellofose. This reminds us of the medieval ages where a lightning bolt cleaved this tree into two parts and left it without barks. The humans then made steps in the tree and built it up like a castle. It is nearly 800 years old.

So, these are the ancient trees that are on the verge of extinction now. Not always it is due to the natural law, but human atrocities too put their existence in the mouth of peril.

The post Know About These Ancient Trees Which Are Pushed in Peril To Make The Civilization Prosper appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

Kapil Sharma, who is software engineer by profession, shifted to Bengaluru eleven years ago.

One of the main reasons he had shifted to Bengalaru  verdant beauty, soothing weather and the natural canopies of trees covering the city, but later he was agonized by the deforestation and the weather getting hotter due to the same.

So he thought of taking the cause of making the city green on his own. He started this noble work by planting saplings near his home and office area. But he felt the damage is more and there’s need of more trees.

“By 2007, I could see drastic changes in the city’s climatic conditions, due to rampant felling of trees. I wanted to do something but didn’t know where to begin. After several meetings with BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagra Palike) officials, I identified places where I could plant saplings,” Kapil was quoted by  The Times of India.

Since he had full time job, he used to do the plantation work and meetings with BBMP officials on weekends.

After a decade or so, you will be surprised to learn that, this social worker planted more than thirty five thousand trees. He started his  NGO called “Say Trees” to give further push to the cause which helped to make the city greener at a faster pace.

After planting, he and his volunteers  takes care of the trees as well so that the survival rate is more.

In an interview with an online portal he said , “We want to encourage more schools and corporates to engage in such drives. Especially corporates, since it also serves their purpose of engaging in CSR activities and helps us easily get funds to buy saplings.”

You can check out his website – www.saytrees.org  to know about the drives.

What are your views on this man who is behind the increasing green cover of Bengaluru?

The post Meet Kapil Sharma, A Software Engineer Who Is Making Bengaluru Green! appeared first on Youngisthan.in.