The Great People’s Forest of Eastern Himalayas, one of the largest reforestation initiatives in South Asia, aims to raise one billion US dollars and plant one billion trees. It targets to restore and protect one million hectares of land across Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Recently, as part of the initiative’s storytelling campaign, around forty participants from schools, the local community, and monks attended a two-day training in Punakha. The campaign aims to empower young people to share their perspectives on the rich biodiversity and the impact of nature on their lives through social media platforms.
In Bhutan, the Bhutan Ecological Society and the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation will lead the initiative to plant trees in degraded forest areas including primary forests, private lands, and all schools across the country. The initiative aims to plant more than ten million trees by 2030.
During the training, participants learned about how to report and share conservation stories using social media platforms to spread the message globally.
Participants learned essential skills such as video shooting, audio recording, and conducting interviews using their mobile phones.
They also practised writing scripts to effectively tell their stories.
“Purpose is to ensure that the community members and school children can tell the stories of their efforts in conservation, in carrying out plantation and once they get the skills to create their media footages; videos, take pictures of their efforts, then we are also training them in being able to share that for the greater benefit of community throughout the country through social media,” said Kinley Tshering, chief programme officer at Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation.
“We learned how to make good videos and not just any videos. And on top of that we also learned how to make story more interactive, more interesting and meaningful,” said Dawa Yezer, a student of Punakha Central School.
“From now on, I will take pictures and videos of our beautiful nature and environment and create stories about the importance of forests. I will highlight that if we have healthy forests, we won’t face major problems with our water supply,” said Nima Tshering, a monk of Rinchenling Shedra, Khotokha, Wangdue Phodrang.
“I will write stories about the importance and beauty of our trees and how they benefit and engage us,” said Rinchen Rada Dorji, a student of Bajothang Higher Secondary School.
The training was organised by the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation and the Bhutan Ecological Society. Similar training sessions are ongoing in Bangladesh, Nepal and Northeast India.
“We trained these people on how to tell their own stories, create their own scripts, be able to visualize the story that they really want to tell, because everyone has an amazing story to tell,” said Tamseel Hussain, a trainer from India.
“Our main mission behind the storytelling campaign is to get as many voices from the ground up. So, we can tell the world the story of region where 240 million people live with 12 percent of the world’s biodiversity,” said Saurav Malhotra, managing director of The Great People’s Forest project.
The stories created by the participants will be featured at global events such as COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan and the Climate Week in New York later this year.
Changa Dorji, Punakha
Edited by Sonam Pem
