After bringing water to a 500-acre plot by using traditional wisom, Manavendra Shekhawat and his team converted it into a veritable Eden
This is the second of a two-part series. For the first part, click here
This dry and dusty 500-acre plot of land on the outskirts of Jaipur once hardly had 30 trees on it. But today, the same land has over 120 species of birds, 70 species of native trees and thousands of animals.
In the first part of this series, we showed how Manavendra Singh Shekhawat, a hotelier from Jaipur and his team brought water using traditional wisdom which completely transformed the land. After bringing water to the land, the team moved on to the next tasks:
For creating a sustainable ecosystem, having an intelligent design was crucial. The team, along with experts, created an ecological masterplan in which they surveyed and understood the topography and soil type and identified 108 species of native trees, grasses and shrubs to plant in these spaces.
After nurturing the saplings in their own nursery, the team planted them in the land now filled with enough water for them to grow. They also used techniques like community grazing to increase the fertility of the soil.
Their hard work and vision has come to fruition with Dhun now home to around 70 species of native trees and a grassland of its own. The transformation has also transcended the boundaries of Dhun to nearby villages.
Today, Shekhawat is chasing another dream; something more ambitious. He dreams of making a sustainable settlement in these spaces, one that is away from the cities. One which is close to nature.
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