At last, there was something nice to write about. And yes it happened in Goa. The community came together at the local and global levels to ensure that something that was precious was saved. A hundred-year-old banyan tree at Arambol which had fallen due to the fierce monsoon winds was raised. The expertise of a Hyderabad based translocator and the passion of locals and expatriates based in Goa ensured it. It is early days as yet as Uday Krishna the man from Hyderabad said: “It is great that it happened in Goa because people will now know that tools meant to uproot earth can now also help in good deeds”.
It caused a great deal of comment in the digital space. Advocate Caroline Colaco said “It was wonderful to see the local community in action with the sole purpose of saving the banyan tree that held many memories and was iconic for the village. The expertise of Uday the tree man and the tremendous support and belief of Living Heritage Marc Francis made it possible. Now, post-care is important for the tree to hold and re-root. The government can take a cue and invest in equipment to save age-old trees that otherwise have to be cut for roads. Sadly the Goa forest department was not to be seen or involved in giving expertise or providing financial help. A centuries-old tree is not just a tree. It is a part of a larger community of trees, a home to birds, reptiles, a keeper of memories, and an icon that symbolizes a village”.
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Another person who expressed her happiness at the turn of events was Nupura Hautamaki who said it was nice to see something restored rather than destroyed. She said “In Karnataka, they are planting saplings after destroying old trees which is so sad. Here is a tree that is more than a hundred years old and means something in the community that could have been lost if the regular template was followed. It was great the local community stepped in ensured that would not happen. The fact there were people also from the rest of the world gives
us hope that all is not lost for us as humans. I am very happy”.
Renuka Figueiredo, Project Manager, Living Heritage Foundation said the motivation to get involved was very simple. She said “Our the main reason for taking on a project like this was to build evidence that restoring heritage trees is feasible and must be explored as an option when we lose forest cover. Imagine for example that trees being felled for road widening projects could be translocated instead of killed. Our next steps at the Living Heritage Foundation are to develop litigation strategies around these areas and ensure that our governing bodies explore methods like these in the future”.
The response, she said from the international community in Arambol was also a motivating factor. She said, “ We had an overwhelmingly positive response from the community, right from raising awareness on social media that the tree fell to raising funds, helping coordinate requirements for the projects, bring refreshments for the team working on-site and so much more”.
She pointed out that Uday Krishna from Vaata Foundation and his fantastic team was the real reason this project succeeded. His vast experience restoring trees and his willingness to come down to Goa and carry out the operation was imperative to the success in phase one of this project ie. Raising the tree.
Augustine Fernandes the owner of the land on which the tree has been growing for over a century said that people loved coming over to the tree and for several years it was normal for travellers to gather around the tree. He said “The tree gave them a lot of happiness. When the tree fell, several individuals reached out to us telling us they wanted to lift it back up. I wasn’t sure at first. But as more people started getting together, it started feeling like it might happen. The youngsters were very enthusiastic”.
Uday Krishna of Vata Foundation the expert tree translocator said it was great that something like this had happened in Goa because now people would know that it was possible to do it and it would hopefully give people to think of it seriously as an option.
