It is said that Around 33% or one-third of the land should be under the forest cover because forests help in the conservation of the natural environment. In today’s time when there is a huge shortage of trees in the country, this Manipur hero Moirangthem Loiya set a great example by doing his bit for the environment, helping people affected by natural disasters.
Moirangthem Loiya has done something truly great which would help people in the longer-run. He has single-handedly replanted 300-acre forest in Manipur and saved over 250 species of plants. Let’s take a moment to appreciate this man.
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It is cognisance of the fact that forest cover in our country is depleting at an alarming rate. Not just that, every now and then, urbanisation happens thus affecting our natural resources. If a new building is constructed at the expense of forest, then the affected tree/s should be replanted somewhere else. Unfortunately, that never happens because humans are greedy.
Moirangthem Loiya from Uripok Khaidem Leikai in Imphal West is well aware of what has been happening in and around his state. So he always wanted to take the matter of depleting forest cover into his own hands. He has single-handedly replanted Punshilok forest in Langol hill-range in 17 years. Yes, he dedicated 17 years of his life to grow 300 acres all by himself.
“Today, forest area covers 300 acres. 250 species of plants and 25 species of bamboo grow here and its home to a variety of birds, snakes and wild animals”, he told news agency ANI.
Earth is turning out to be less hospitable to human life. With a growing rate of environmental degradation, we are putting our own lives at complete risk and there is no question whether humans will be the main victim of their own mass extinction.
Deforestation is one of the activities that humans have long been doing but they hardly find time to plant a sapling. The rate at which the planet is losing its biodiversity is comparable only to the mass extinctions without the shadow of a doubt.
Trees eliminate atmospheric carbon and output oxygen during the process of photosynthesis. It is calculated that a 1 billion hectare increase in forests could limit global warming to an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius by the year 2050.
The new study reveals that reforesting an area about the size of the United States could scrub nearly around 100 years’ worth of carbon emissions.
As per their data, Earth can support nearly 4.4 billion hectares of the forest without removing farmland or cities to accommodate them, while only about 2.8 billion hectares exist now. This means that there are more than 1.6 billion hectares available for forest restoration.
What’s the next step? Now humans across the world put about 300 gigatonnes of carbon into the air in all of our time on Earth. So, a dedicated reforestation effort could cut down humanity’s carbon footprint by two-thirds.
Moirangthem Loiya has become a source of inspiration for all of us. People who attempt to cut trees should at least learn the value of trees. Everyone should plant at least one tree in a year so that drought problems can come to an end. His message through his hard work is to make people aware of the value of trees.