A re-wilding and ecological restoration programme was undertaken by the Cantonment Board, Madras Regimental Centre and other units of the Wellington Cantonment in Coonoor on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, to mark World Environment Day 2024.
The theme for this year is ‘Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience,’ a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world.
Brigadier Sunil Kumar Yadav, Commandant, Madras Regimental Center (MRC), presided over the event, a statement released on the event said.
In his address, Mr. Yadav spoke about the importance of combined efforts across different sections of the society for the success of such initiatives to restore native ecology. In addition to the army establishment and the cantonment board, students of Laidlaw Memorial School and College, volunteers of NGOs, Be My Buddy, You Can Edu, and Clean Coonoor, also participated.
The restoration was undertaken on a piece of wetland within the cantonment limits, recently rejuvenated through the joint efforts of the army establishment, Clean Coonoor and the Hinduja Foundation.
Appropriate native flora was planted along the banks of the waterbody, and native flora such as sedges were also spontaneously taking over inside the wetland. It was hoped that with more such efforts, the region will transform into a proper valley bog in the years to come, serving as a forerunner for more such efforts in other parts of the district, participants of the event said.
