BENGALURU: Nature lovers of the city were in for a real treat on Saturday, thanks to an ‘Urban Tree Walk’ held at Lalbagh Botanical Garden. The workshop was hosted by Kavya Chanda, founder of Green Venture, and was conducted by Echoes of Earth, which is one of the country’s greenest music festivals.
The idea behind the walk, said Chanda, was to help people understand the value of trees and their history and origin.
“This is even more important in Bengaluru, since the city’s tree population is diminishing and people don’t care. We need to understand and value our natural world,” she added.
Agreed Sandeep Kulkarni, a regular walker at Lalbagh, who decided to attend the workshop to know more
about the trees there. Vaishnavi Balusu too, said it was great to come to Lalbagh early in the morning. “I have come here before but never specifically looked at various plants and trees. The eucalyptus tree was a highlight for me because I had heard of it but never seen one,” she said.
For Koel Singh, the workshop’s highlight was the silk cotton tree, which is one of the oldest trees at Lalbag and is about 238 years old.
“That was stunning. And it was interesting to know that tamarind trees are not from India but from Africa. We learnt about trees like Cannonbal, Tamarind, Mahaneem, Pride of Burma, Mahogany, Eucalyptus, Mango and Plumeria,” she said.
Rhea Ann Lopez was particularly thrilled about how much she got to learn at the event.
“My favourite bit was about the African tulip plant, which is beautiful, fixes the soil for other plants and helps maintain the water levels,” she said.
The thought was echoed by Kasturi Das, who said the workshop taught her about many species of aromatic, medicinal and ornamental plants. The appeal of the event, however, was due to its interactive nature.
She explained: “They wrapped the workshop with a quiz to summarise everything. It came to my surprise that they even gave us a Holy Basil sapling to take back home.”