Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation (AKSP) has taken responsibility for the denuded Reserve Forest on the lower slopes of the mountain. The thrust of the project is social ecology. Eighteen rural persons - almost all illiterate - are engaged in water conservation strategies, bunding and check dams, seed collection, nursery work and plantation, maintenance and protection of saplings on the slopes.
The primary objective of the Greening of Arunachala is the rejuvenation of the artesian system. However the Arunachala Kadu Siva Plantation has a wider social ecological import:
Vediyappan Shrine at Plantation -- click on photo to enlarge
"Archeologists report that since time immemorial the mysterious wilderness - conducive to asceticism, meditation and contemplation, has always been juxtaposed with the cultivated terrain of Thiruvannamalai town. The prognosis for the future of Thiruvannamalai is a city with a mountain in the middle; the urban spread that will accomplish this is flourishing mightily right before our eyes. Yet Arunachala provides sufficient area designated as wilderness to support a flourishing botanical variety and habitat for many species of wildlife. The forest essential to enable this wilderness to be healthy will naturally replenish and regenerate the water table and eventually change our seasonalweather patterns. Such a forest therefore will ensure that the cultivated terrain presented in opposition to the wild mountain becomes truly synonymous with prosperity as it potentially is since the only sound economics in any nation lie in co-operation with natural processes."
[Aruna Apeethagiri - AKSP]
To find out more about Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation and different aspects of Arunachala Greening and about the indigenous community and ethos of the area, you can visit Aruna Apeethagiri's excellent website at this link.
