Green vows and wedding vows
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COMMENTS 
The unique Maiti ritual in the Kumaon hills has made a startling difference to the forest cover in the state of Uttaranchal.
A wedding ceremony is in progress in a village in the Kumaon hills. The priest is chanting shlokas and mantras while the groom plants a sapling and his bride waters it. The plant will be taken care of by the parents and friends of the bride once she leaves for her groom's house. It will always be a reminder of her.
This is the 'Maiti ritual' which is an integral part of wedding ceremonies in the Kumaon. Maiti in Uttaranchal literally means 'mother's home'. The ritual was first conceived by Kalyan Singh Rawat, a zoology teacher at a government school. Women in the region had been affected the most by deforestation: they had to walk for miles in search of grass, wood and drinking water. Rawat realised that forests could best be conserved if women participated actively: after all, they would be the ones to benefit from regenerated forests. He formed the Maiti Organisation in 1996 and the Maiti ritual was first introduced in a small town called Gwaldam. In each village or town there is a Maiti group comprising unmarried girls. The eldest among them is called Maiti didi. The Maiti group nurtures a nursery from which one sapling is given to the groom to plant during the wedding ceremony. The money that the groom customarily gives to all the unmarried girls is collected and used to fund the education of poor girls or to help in the marriage expenses of an underprivileged girl.
The success of this women-centric movement has been spectacular. Within four years it has spread to 500 villages. The state government of Uttaranchal has passed an order to formulate all-women forest panchayats to involve an increasing number of women in the management and protection of forests. After the Kargil war, women in Ochati village developed a Maiti forest dedicated to soldiers. Recently, 300 trees have been planted in villages in Bageshwar district. Students from Garhwal University have planted saplings in Nainital, Srinagar and Garhwal to promote the Maiti movement. The result of this in terms of improved forest cover in the state is startling. The new state has 67.07 per cent forest area in contrast to UP which has a mere 17.54 per cent. This is a quantum leap as in 1950 Uttaranchal had 58 per cent forest cover which had dwindled to 36 per cent in 1980.
All this has been achieved with relatively little financial investment. The government has been spending lakhs of rupees every year on afforestation programmes involving plantation of eucalyptus and pine. These trees grow fast and locals make a quick profit by selling them to industries. However, the success of the government afforestation programmes is low as these exotic plants drain groundwater and make the soil infertile. In contrast the trees planted in the Maiti ritual are indigenous. They supply firewood and fodder to the locals. And though the locals do not make a quick profit from these trees, it is more sustainable in the long term. The indigenous species improve soil fertility and are eco-friendly.
Contact: Chhaya Kunwar
Co-ordinator, Women's Wing
Himalayan Action Research Centre
744, Indira Nagar, P.O. New Forest
Dehradun- 248006
Uttar Pradesh, India
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