Standard Chartered, Haritika to plant 10 lakh native trees under project Treedom 2.0

Standard Chartered Bank and Haritika, a non-governmental organisation, have announced an initiative to plant 10 lakh native saplings across four Army establishments.

The tree plantation project, Project Treedom 2.0, is being carried out simultaneously in Gwalior (2 lakh), Babina (3 lakh), Sagar (3 lakh), and Ahmednagar (2 lakh) establishments, marking a milestone in the bank's efforts towards enhancing India's green cover and restoring ecological balance, a joint statement said on Tuesday.

The initiative addresses critical environmental challenges prevalent in the northern and central belts of India, which are particularly vulnerable to water scarcity, largely due to geographical factors, it said.

Changing climate patterns have increasingly disrupted rainfall and agricultural activity, impacting the livelihoods of people dependent on monsoons for farming, it said.

Through Project Treedom 2.0, the bank is working on developing new forests through agroforestry-based sustainable carbon sequestration initiatives, which include conserving biodiversity and planting diverse native species, it said.

All plantation parcels are equipped with drip irrigation systems to ensure efficient water usage, and solar-powered water systems have also been installed to lift water from sources, further promoting sustainable and eco-friendly practices, it added.

As part of the first edition of Project Treedom in 2023, the bank planted 10 lakh native trees in the wastelands of Ahmednagar in Maharashtra (5 lakh), the Aravalli ranges at Manesar near Delhi (3 lakh), and the dry parched terrain of Jodhpur in Rajasthan (2 lakh).