Adani Foundation felicitated with Van Pandit Award

Ahmedabad: The Adani Foundation has won the Van Pandit Award for planting more than 1,70,000 trees in Mundra, Gujarat in 2022-23. The honour was conferred on the organisation at an award ceremony held on 8 August 2024 at the state-level Forest Festival at Devbhoomi Dwarka. Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Bhupendra Bhai Patel gave away the awards and Mr Karshanbhai Gadhavi, senior project officer who oversees the plantation drive, received the award on behalf of the Foundation.

This achievement has ranked the Foundation at number one among the prominent organisations carrying out tree plantation in the country. It is a proud moment for Adani Foundation as this award coincides with its 28th anniversary. This felicitation will further boost its afforestation work. This year, the Foundation is planting over 57,000 trees.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel said, “Each one of us should plant one tree in the name of our mother and our ancestors towards making our earth green. The target of Gujarat state is to plant 17 crore trees by March 2025.”

The Foundation began tree plantation in Mundra’s Nana Kapaya village during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21. Villagers were involved in the initiative to create a dense forest on a small piece of land. More than 6,000 trees of about 40 species, mostly medicinal, were planted by the villagers, especially youth. It was encouraging to see elderly people participating in the drive.

In 2022, Moti Bhujpur gram panchayat and Visri Mata Seva Trust together planned a massive plantation drive involving over 25,000 trees. Efforts were made by the villagers to make this project successful by providing land, electricity and water. The Foundation assisted in clearing the land and facilitating the plantation.

Prakriti Rath – part of Central government’s campaign ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ – is another initiative started by the Foundation in collaboration with the forest department under the guidance of Deputy Conservator of Forests, Head of Social Forestry, Hareshbhai Makwana. About 50,000 plants have been planted by the people of Mundra taluka through this campaign. Another 21,000 dates and mango plants were distributed to the farmers of Mundra taluka.

Adani Foundation has undertaken plantation drives at more than 150 places in 35 villages of Mundra taluka. Community Forests, as Foundation involves people, have been developed in Nana Kapaya, Dhrab, Pratappar, Shiracha, Moti Bhujpur, Nani Bhujpur, and Navinal villages. Apart from this, around 60 schools, village crematoriums, sports grounds, and religious places have been successfully covered under the mass plantation drive. As a result of these efforts, over 4,000 metric tonnes of carbon sequestration has been achieved.

“The Adani Foundation has been continuously working towards creating a sustainable environment and empowered societies in the last 28 years,” said Mr. Vasant Gadhavi, Executive Director of Adani Foundation. “Our afforestation and organic farming initiatives are not just enriching the soil in the region, but also helping farmers adopt new ways of farming, which are sustainable and profitable. The success of our journey can be attributed to the dedicated hard work and cooperation of the people. We remain committed to working in this direction.”