How many trees do you have per head?

There are only 35 billion trees in India to shade a population of 1.3 billion. Among highly populous countries, India (population, 1.267 billion) has a tree population of only 35 billion, leading to just 28 trees per person. I was looking at small countries like Greenland has 4964 trees per person, not talking about large countries like Canada having 10,163 trees and USA having 699 and Australia 1269. Our friend China has 130 and small country like France has 203. Poor country like Ethiopia has 143 and UK has 43 but we are the lowest at 28 trees per person as compared to other BRICS countries. Brazil has 1,494 per person and Russia has whooping 6614 trees per person.

Trees are not only cut down to make wood byproducts, but they are also cut down to maintain the health of forests. Small trees that are more susceptible to drought, invasive species and disease are often removed to prevent the spread of these infestations to mature forests. These dried-out trees are also the perfect wildfire fuel and are often removed to prevent the spread of wildfires. I don't know the cause, each day is different but if you feel bad about it then tell me what are you doing about it?

Its everyone's responsibility to plant more trees. I was thinking as a child we went and got so many mangoes from stray trees. The whole neighborhood was feed but for these wild trees. All the kids enjoyed climbing these trees and plucking some mangoes as the tree were huge. Let's give that to next generation and plant more trees. Just make a grow bomb of fruit trees and throw them next to water bodies. Anything may work river, pond, Nala or even gutter.

Gandhinagar, the Capital of Gujarat State has the largest number of trees - more than 32 lakhs! That’s 15 trees per person in the City!! Surprised ? All the grid roads (minus the Carriageways and service roads ) of Gandhinagar are declared as National Forests. Plus every Sector has good number of Parks, which along with the Sabarmati River front has been afforested. I'd have to guess that it is Madhya Pradesh. It is the second largest state in India and has a very high percentage of land under forests. A large portion of the largest state in India (Rajasthan) is covered by desert and thorny shrubs. Hence I'd say, the state with most trees in India is Madhya Pradesh.

The responsibility of counting trees in a locality or village can be given to sarpanch/society head or to some group of people (of that village or sent by the district). These villages/areas need to submit their result to the bigger district. The districts will have the responsibility of collecting the results from all villages/areas. These will be submitted to the state/UT. The trees on national highways are already numbered. The trees on state highways/ring roads inside a state will be the responsibility of the state. They will assign this work to some group. The counting of trees in forest area can be done by Automatic Individual Tree Counting.

A total tree count in a forest is obtained using aerial remote sensing techniques. Images of a forests are captured using special CIR film in our large format cameras. The data is then processed using specifically developed algorithms to enhance the spectral reflectance of individual trees. A plan is produced showing all trees, with a marker dot on each counted tree. The total tree count is automatically derived within defined boundaries. The result is a highly accurate count of the trees within a forest area. (source:http://www.aerialsurveys.co.nz/products/smartforest/forest-inventory/)

Following are the basic considerations I have made. The plants should sustain summer, without watering after it survives through its first summer. It should not be a single variety, as mix is always considered better for the ecology. Need to be cost effective. Cattle shall not eat when it is young. Shall bear fruit for human/birds/animals/Honey bee or be cool or beautiful.

Based on above criteria my suggestions are ( mostly taken from the observing what is already being practiced) we should plant the following important trees in India.

Tamarind - Grows from seedling, feeds birds and animals with commercial value, easy to grow but emits comparatively less Oxygen.

Ashwattha Ficus religiosa - Grows from stem - Maximum Oxygen emission and hence sacred in many religions including Hindu,Jain,Buddhism. All kind of birds will be happy for you.

Indian Fig Ficus Racemosa - Grows from stem - Stores water, keeps cool, home for birds and ants

May flower Delonix regia- Grows from seeds, Gulmohar looks beautiful, very less maintenance.

Banyan Tree - Grows by planting cut roots. Keeps cool, retains water, but this will also believed that draws a lot of water from water table beneath us. Home for several big birds, ants and our great grandfathers.

Mango Tree Mango - Grows primarily from Seeds.- We are Indians and we are Mango men

Babul Vachellia nilotica - Grows from stem - Has immense medicinal value, attracts bees and hence helps pollination in field crops. What ever is the technology, we cannot pollinate like bees.

Bengal Almond Terminalia catappa - Grows from seeds. Favorite of Squirrel, gives shadow during most part of the year.

Yellow flame Peltophorum pterocarpum - Grows from stem. Attracts and feeds bees

Neem Azadirachta indica Grows from stem/seeds. No explanations, immense medicinal value and feeds bees. If a colony of honeybees is kept at exclusive Neem garden, resulting honey can be consumed by Diabetic without fear.

Coral tree Erythrina variegata Grows from seeds - Seeds are beautiful. Does not give much shadow. Next generation kids will remember their grand pa for these beautiful seeds.

Palash Butea monosperma Grows from stem - Flowers beautifully, feeds bees,