How to make heaven on earth: a couple turned a desert into a jungle in 25 years

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In 1991, Anil and Pamela bought 22 hectares of wasteland in India and began planting trees there. Over time, they expanded their small forest to 120 hectares and turned it into the most beautiful reserve in which wild animals and birds live.

Anil and Pamela Malhotra were married in the United States in the 1960s and while traveling together discovered that they both have a great love of wildlife. During their honeymoon, they visited Hawaii, and after a while they even moved there. “This is how we learned to appreciate the pristine nature, forests, and realized that even despite the constant discussion of global warming, no serious solutions to this problem are being made, and no one is saving forests,” says Anil.

In 1986, the couple went to India for the funeral of Anil's father, and they were struck to the heart by the level of pollution in that country. It seemed that everyone absolutely did not care about disappearing forests, dirty rivers, and drying up lakes. It was then that Anil and Pamela decided that they could not just leave it like that, and that they simply had to somehow fix this state of affairs. They sold their property in Hawaii and moved to India looking for a suitable plot for themselves.

They first looked for a piece of land in the north of the country, but they found nothing. Then they headed to the southern states, and there a family friend advised them to look at the 55 acres (22 hectares) that a local farmer was selling. “When I got there, I saw a wasteland. The owner wanted to sell this land, because it was impossible to grow anything on it. But for me and for Pamela it was exactly what we were looking for,” says Anil.

It was really impossible to use these lands for vegetable gardens or farm fields because of the pouring rains, but Anil and Pamela thought it was a rather tempting idea to arrange a jungle here. All that was required of them was to plant local trees and let nature decide for itself how to develop. First, grass began to grow in the shade of the newly planted trees, then the trees themselves grew and began to give seeds, multiplying, and after that birds flew here and wild animals arrived.

However, pretty soon the couple discovered that while on one side of the river they were growing the most beautiful clean forest, on the other side, farmers were using strong chemical pesticides that killed all life. Therefore, as far as possible, they began to buy land from farmers and plant trees on their plots. Many farmers wanted to get rid of their too little income, and with the money paid by the Malothra family, they could move to more fertile states. Little by little, Anil and Pamela's forest grew to 300 acres (120 hectares).

"People told us that we were crazy, - says Pamela. - But that's okay. Many people who do wonderful things have heard such statements addressed to them." The "wonderful thing" that Anil and Pamela did was a forest that grew on a once completely empty, barren land poisoned by pesticides. Today it is a nature reserve called the Save Animals Initiative (SAI = Animal Rescue Initiative), which is home to hundreds of different plants, more than 300 species of birds, several dozen rare and endangered species of animals, including Asian elephants, Bengal tigers, river otters, giant squirrels Malabar, deer, monkeys and snakes.

“I remember walking through the forest and hearing nothing but the noise of my steps. And now this place is alive, everything in it makes noise and speaks to you,” says Pamela. This reserve is even called a kind of Noah's Ark, because it has become a refuge for some animals and plants, which are almost not found elsewhere.

But do not think that it was easy to achieve such results. Maybe nature did not interfere with the venture of Anil and Pamela, but people tried very hard to interfere. Many of the local people did not understand what "these two from America are up to here." They hunted animals in the forest, cut down trees. Once, in order to stop the poachers, Pamela even had to fight them, armed with a log.

“A priest from a village nearby was lifted up by a tiger, and the locals got scared. Later we helped them restore the temple and build a more reliable building, but for their help we asked them to stop killing animals. They asked - why would we stop doing this?” And then, - I then replied, - that you pray to Ganesha and Hanuman, and at the same time you kill living beings. "It worked on them."

“We are trying to do our best for our reserve, - says Pamela Malotra. - I hope that in 10 years this forest will continue to be protected and expanded. We both feel great pride and joy in what we have created. was not so happy with the results of my work."

In the same way, on their own, the blind Jia Haisya and his friend Jia Venchi, who had both arms amputated, turned a lifeless valley into a beautiful grove in 12 years - read about this in our article " There would be a desire."