NEW DELHI: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Global Seedball Campaign, organized under the banner of the C20 Working Group on Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) – Climate, Environment, and Net Zero Targets, has achieved a significant milestone by producing over 1.3 million seedballs globally since its launch in April this year. The initiative aims to promote environmental sustainability and restoration of ecosystems by producing and distributing over a million seedballs by the end of this year.
The campaign has a current presence across 5 continents and 12 Indian states, with stakeholders across the country taking an active part, including multiple state governments, school and college students, non-governmental organizations such as AYUDH, the youth wing of Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Rotary Club, the National Cadet Core (NCC), and others.
The Seedball Campaign was launched at the global level earlier this year by Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), the Chairperson of C20 India. Encouraging everyone in the world to take part in this campaign, Amma said: “Alignment with nature is the lasting and closest bond for the human body and life. Without the elemental forces of earth, fire, water, air, and space, humankind and other creatures will cease to exist. Our essential consciousness is the totality of all these forces. As long as we do not acknowledge this eternal unity between humankind and these natural forces, peace, happiness, and harmony will remain a dream.“
A speedball is a small ball or pallet made of seeds mixed with clay and other organic materials to hold the ball together and provide nutrition to the seeds. Thrown or scattered in areas where vegetation is needed, the seedballs rely on natural Monsoon rainfall to germinate and grow into mature plants.
Creating seedballs is an ancient technique for reforestation and soil restoration that is today being carried out by community groups worldwide and includes people of all ages. It offers an environmentally friendly and low-cost solution with the potential to make a significant impact on the health and resilience of our planet’s ecosystems.
Dr. Maneesha V Ramesh, C20 SRC Working Group Coordinator, said: “Every year, around 10 million hectares of forests worldwide are being destroyed. This alarming trend has disrupted the ecological equilibrium, leading to unfavorable consequences for the earth’s climate and biodiversity. As deforestation continues, immediate measures are imperative to safeguard the diversity of life on the planet and to ensure the well-being and continuity of countless species on Earth. The Seedball Campaign, a simple and holistic approach devised by Amma is a major step in this direction to bring in behavioral change in all walks of life and across age groups to preserve nature and the ecosystem around us. In the long run, this will lead to a reduction in biodiversity degradation, equipping communities to become resilient to climate change and its impacts.“
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