Institute of Heartfulness plans to develop mini rainforest on 25 acres of land at Kanha Shantivanam, its global headquarters, on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The institute will plant over 300 species of typical rainforest trees including several rare, endemic and threatened species.
These valuable seedlings and saplings have been procured from the Chennai-based MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Shivaji University in Kolhapur, Foundation for Revitalisation of Rural Health Traditions in Bengaluru, Forest Department of Karnataka and Grameena Krishi Vijnana Kendra in Bengaluru.
The rainforest is one of the three major initiatives announced by the Institute, buoyed by the success of Green Kanha, a successful initiative of shaping the microclimate of hundreds of acres of Kanha Shantivanam and its surroundings.
As part of Heartfulness Green initiative, it has committed to planting, adoption and nurturing 10 million trees over one year across all its centres in India.
Under the third initiative, it will associate with Google employees to plant 300 trees in Kanha Shantivanam on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It is now home to over 1.5 lakh trees, including indigenous and several of the IUCN red listed species amongst those being nurtured here. This has helped create a positive microclimate in and around Heartfulness region,” he said.
Kanha Shantivanam is being developed as a resplendent Green Space, hosting a wide variety of herbs, shrubs, and trees as part of the Green Kanha Initiative. More than 150,000 trees have already been planted and some 1,000 trees translocated from various regions.
Heartfulness is a system of Raja Yoga meditation founded at the turn of the 20th century.
