EcoSikh, a US-based organisation would launch its first-ever ‘Guru Nanak Sacred Forest’ in Pakistan from tomorrow.
This afforestation campaign, named after Sikhism founder, Baba Guru Nanak, would kick off in Punjabi Language Research Center, Kasur, in connection with the commemoration of Baba Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary.
The campaign would be executed in a collaboration with a Lahore-based afforestation firm, RESTORE. EcoSikh President, Dr Rajwant Singh, spoke on the occasion and noted that Nanak had given a clear message that we humans had a great deal to learn from nature.
He quoted Guru Nanak as saying, “We have to consider nature as a sacred gift from the Creator. ”
Dr Singh added, “Air is the teacher; Water is father and Earth is our mother, thereby implying that we need to have a deep understanding of our relationship with nature.”
“So creating a forest in name of Guru Nanak would be an implementation of his vision,” he went on to remark.
The said forest would be planted in Khoj Garh, the Punjabi language research centre in Kasur District. Its director, Iqbal Qaisar, said, “This is the best way to pay tribute to Guru Nanak who was a nature lover.”
He added, “Guru Nanak healed people during his lifetime, and we wanted to send a message that his legacy can still continue to heal people and spread love in this part of the world.”
RESTORE CEO, Bilal A. Chaudri expressed excitement to work on this project in collaboration with EcoSikh.
“We feel that Guru Nanak Sacred Forests around the world will continue to give the message that we need to have awareness towards our relationship with nature and we need to develop a harmonious relationship with trees,” he added.
“Forests provide tremendous benefits and the majority of countries in the region desperately need this as we have seen disastrous deforestation here in recent decades, leading to many problems,” Chaudri maintained.
ECO Sikh has appealed to the worldwide community to plant 1 million trees round the world as a “gift to the world.”
To achieve the target, EcoSikh asked Sikhs to plant 550 trees at 1820 locations round the globe.
Guru Nanak Sacred forest was one way to facilitate this plantation, which could produce results in a faster and effective manner.
Chaudri specialises in the creation of super dense and fast growing “Miyawaki” style Urban Forests. He explained how important it was to bring back our native forests so that our population could benefit from them.