This Tamil Nadu man turns 100 acres of barren land to an indigenous forest

This is the story of D. Saravanan, a true environmentalist at heart, who dedicated nearly 25 years of his life to turning barren land into a green luscious forest spread over 100 acres, now known as the Aranya Forest and Sanctuary in Poothurai village, Tamil Nadu.
Born into a small farmer family near Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu, Saravanan always had a special connection with nature. At the age of 14, he participated in the 100-day march for the ‘Save the Western Ghats’ rally which deeply influenced his path in life.
After being active as an environmentalist in his youth days, Saravanan took up the project in Auroville in the year 1994. And with the help of the residents, students and the local community, Saravanan decided to grow a 100 acre of land into an Indigenous forest. It was not an easy task, from bringing water into the land, nourishing the soil, collecting rare local seeds, fighting poachers and planting thousands of trees on barren land. Saravanan dedicated 30 years of his life, sweat and dreams to what we today call Aranya Forest and Sanctuary.
Thanks to his exemplary work and dedication, the forest has 700 species of indigenous plants like Diospyrus Melanoxylon, Gloriosa superba, Memecylon Umbellatum and Derris Ovalifolia. The forest is also home to six man-made water bodies and pristine ravines.
Saravanan now dedicates his time to planting more trees, taking care of the forest and providing education to the local community and students about the importance of Indigenous forests.
A true environmentalist at heart, Saravanan truly believes that we are just the are takers of the earth and when it's time, it is our responsibility to hand over this planet to the next generation.
Video credits:
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Direction/ DOP/ Script/ Editing : Midhun Vijayan
Graphics: Sunny Gautam
Executive Producer: Arnab Pratim Dutta
Managing producer: Joel Michael

[@anujkumarsingh8183]

Nominate him for Padma Shri.... Real hero should get recognition for their work.

[@tudortv2147]

Agree

[@sriramvelumani3105]

Let’s make him visiting prof to all colleges via online

[@praveenangusamy]

I have sent nomination

[@krishs718]

Correct 💯.

[@experimentexpert2714]

Non deserving directors got it Not these people

[@manjunath322]

Minister of Environment, Forest Officers should learn from this man. People like him will solve water crisis, heat waves , drought in India.

[@rajadutta8635]

Do you think our ministers wants to learn ???To make more money and to earn more popularity are their fortitude.

[@VelMurugan-qb1xq]

they would start looking at every angle how to and how much money can be milked

[@fram4246]

Some uneducated and retard politicians may be thinking to take this land and make money.

[@knightdave1986]

Govt's should appoint him as a senior consultant for Forest Dept..

[@swapnilkanhed9496]

Ministry of enviroment protect is alreafy doing good thng after BJP in ruled thats why people like them awarded bro. Thats why centre ban on single use plastics, reacreating a forest chain again dont u know in d last 5 years indias forest covers grown in d world only china and infia is green covered area increase. Swach bharat initiative started by govt. Everytime we should not blame only central ministry its our duty also to take care of forest. U - me can contribute in making small home forest to.

[@jahnaveebarkakati2397]

Jadav Payeng in Assam has planted his forest of over 1,300 acres single handedly in his lifetime. Heroes like these two are first defenders, protecting the Earth from climate change. They both should receive Bharat Ratna and all right thinking people need to follow their example or give support.

[@joshuadavid4796]

Jadav Payeng was already honored with a padama award

[@amazingdude9042]

yeahh. give me 100 acres and I can do the same. no big deal. you forgot to emphasize the main part which is he has 100 acres of land so he has no worry about his family food for sure and so does has all that free time to do all this bullsh*t.

[@akbarnoorulhaq8292]

And shoe slaps n spit to environment ministry n forest officers

[@babumushai5967]

Mr jadav was awarded padam Shri in 2015

[@void_360]

@@amazingdude9042 bullshit? I'm sure you can't work your ass off like him

[@TamilEelam1]

Good work! This is the compassion of Tamils to our land!

[@Arabi-Rasgulle-ka-Gulla]

As a Rajasthani I salute 👍

[@sanchitsingh5912]

Growing 100 acre forest with no top soil and even sustaining the forest further man there should be 21 gun salute to you along with padma awards!!! Hat's off to your hard work patience dedication and perseverance!! Thank you sir for saving mother nature!! From Uttar Pradesh

[@vinayemmadi2234]

u r mistaken brother it should be 30 gun salute for his 30 year service

[@thecherrytree6322]

Yes, of course ... you are so right👍 Negating soil erosion; Nurturing it; then Creating top soil is such an arduous & time consuming task😳🤔

[@premalathar7939]

100 percent true

[@vv6533]

people like him should be celebrated but instead we are giving importance to movie stars rather than real life stars like this. our attention is misplaced all the time.

[@rajuvarma5338]

Pranaamum

[@prashantdevadiga6696]

These are the real citizens of our nation who must be awarded the highest honours of the land, not those useless actors. Salute to those unsung heros of India. Great change makers and a Great Inspiration for today's youth. Jai Hind.

[@cheguevara4676]

i agree with you sir

[@TheSamuiman]

his man lives on the planet earth and has realized it's importance for our survival, the others are living in a dream world, with fancy shopping malls, luxury cars, lofts and skyscrapers, highways and garbage dumps, all neatly wrapped in dream clouds!

[@pd9515]

You mean Sadguru

[@knightdave1986]

Your nation and its govt has destroyed our state Tamilnadu.. By destroying water bodies, forests, etc..

[@parikshithdevadiga6957]

Indeed❤

[@duniagiana]

Well this is way beyond amazing. Salute to Dr. Saravanan from an Indonesian man🙏

[@shreeraaman1667]

Does Indonesia have any similar reforestation projects of its own? Just curious, thanks.

[@sundarmann6167]

He did what no politicians can do. Humanity deserves people like Saravanan. A real life hero!

[@sawantraja570]

There are stories of a single man who turned barren land into a forest but never media covered a single, but these stories should reaches to masses.

[@SaUrAvNeil]

They can't because they need money to run their company

[@tudortv2147]

@@SaUrAvNeil They can if they choose to do, but they choose to appease the political masters, the media's function is primarily to polarize society, misinform if they have to inform. In this case there is no scope to misinform or polarize anyone so they choose to uninform.

[@smitch2023]

Wow hard work by this gentleman for no return to himself…,truly a big hearted person…heart warming story

[@vrindas2645]

So true, the media is full of propoganda stories, they themselves call it stories. They give so much time for "how dare you" thunberg, who never ever planted a single tree, only thing she does is protest and even Putin has to answer about this girls anger. Y media not covering this? The whole world should know about this, not the so called activists.

[@mandalorian3865]

Media only runs after masala News

[@lohith_sai]

"This is not even a peanut to save our future"- Such realistic words Hats off for your dedication & love towards our Environment Special respect to your family for having accepting your mission & change themselves for an inclusive effort

[@maxmillion868]

Indian Deities bless Him , supporting Him all the Way . Thank You 17/6/2022 .

[@surudog4929]

He lives closes to my village and I could understand him speaking Tamil. What he has accomplished is no small feat. It is very hard and needs a lot of patience, perseverance and dedication along with personal sacrifices. Cheers to him and he deserves a Padma Shri for his achievement and wanting to teach others about it. He made our Tamil people proud. Jai Hind.

[@amazingdude9042]

yeahh. give me 100 acres and I can do the same. no big deal. you forgot to emphasize the main part which is he has 100 acres of land so he has no worry about his family food for sure and so does has all that free time to do all this bullsh*t.

[@karthikrajagopalan5130]

@@amazingdude9042 you would sold the land and gone drunk!!! yes you need to emphasize he dedicated his 100 acres of land and life.

[@jofdisonjoson1584]

​@@amazingdude9042 anyone can comment

[@stanalvares6888]

Start growing one plant anywhere then ask for 100 acres

[@Kirubass]

​​@@amazingdude9042 dude!!! Anyone can do this but no-one has time to do...so good works has to be appreciated never to be criticised.

[@purnimarana6775]

I want to do this in my lifetime. Really craving to create a forest

[@sourabhrajoria5358]

I have been craving to do this for last 6 years

[@tudortv2147]

Purnima, have you planted a single tree as yet, if you have, you have begun towards your goal, if you haven't then please strive with one tree at a time.

[@kadhambampookkal337]

You better create a nursery with indigenous plants.Creating a forest by single person is practically not possible until unless you are billionaire

[@aliengod2039]

Super easy... depopulate humanity.

[@premalathar7939]

And there are such neighbours who want me to cut down my trees because dry leaves falls in their compound

[@swami91]

Sanctity in this world still exists because of people like you.. Thank you

[@SobersRajakumar]

Proud of our Tamil brother saving the earth in his own way

[@officialcoronavirus3237]

This is beyond this world. This man truely understood the problems faced by earth and dedicated 30 years of his life growing a forest. He is a perfect example for others. Thank you team. I will definitely grow plants where, and whenever possible.

[@user-wk4ee4bf8g]

Some places don't need much help. We should regrow the damaged places. Even just one earthwork with appropriate trees planted by it could help restart a spot. Hardy nitrogen-fixing trees around a compost pit as the pioneers for future food trees worked for Geoff Lawton in a super arid place. I bet small teams of people could really start a passive fertility\water feedback loop on degraded land without much trouble that could scale put on it's own. A bastion of natural regeneration to harbor birds to bring in more seeds and spread the ones produced by the new patch. Humanity can speed it up by doing what he did, but nature would still do it on its own if enough momentum if reached. I'm not sure exactly what that means, it would be different for each spot. But a basic vocabulary of simple earthworks is a good place to start, like zuni bowls, composting pits, gabions, swales and altered swales like the rolling dip. All sprts of ways to play with the land that passively create more fertility.

[@humansarecrazybeing5730]

He is the real man, respect from Arunachal Pradesh NE 💪🏻

[@klakshma]

அசாத்திய சாதனை!! செயற்கையான இயற்கை உருவாக்குவது மிக கடினம். 30 வருட கடின தனி மனித உழைப்பு. பாராட்டுகிறேன், வியேக்கிறேன்.

[@temasek65]

Hero of the Tamil Nation!!

[@Sunj7]

This man is a true hero. I cant thank him enough for his life work. We often think of charity to people as a way to serve God. By creating a forest, he is not just caring for humans but millions of other species that will thrive in his forest. What better way to serve God than to care for his creation. Government should take steps to protect this forest forever. Designate it as a nature reserve??

[@divyals123]

This man is a gift from the Almighty. May his effort last for centuries!

[@manjeetshahare4986]

MINIATURE FORESTS - I hope that it is possible for Govt and large land owner families could create such miniature forests say from 5 acre to 100 acre everywhere in our country from now....within 10-15 years ...carbon footprints will certainly go down. I vote for Bharat Ratna to this great and humble man from Tamilnad

[@kals7357]

Very well said👍 One correction..state name ends with letter 'U' at the end - tamilnadU

[@upresins]

Here in my ancestral village, am trying to make such a forest on less than 1 acre- but people not understanding, including relatives- al of them afarid "snakes will come"

[@Durga-CanadaLife]

Great Man.. salute to him. Imagine if everyone plant a tree in his lifetime how beautiful our Earth will be. I wish I too will do this.

[@tanmayambekar1924]

In our New India people like Kangana get Padma Shri and common people like this legend stays ignored. Being a Tamililan could also be aspect of rejection from a North Indian Government.

[@Purrringcat]

Give this man a honorary award! This should be everyone's passion, growing plants and also food for yourself, being self sustainable and helping nature. I've found my purpose I guess, I want to live like him...

[@rahulmalsani6202]

The people who save mother earth and humanity are Superheroes... You are one of them sir.......

[@saffrondominic4585]

Oru manithan ippo oru PUNITHAN; thank you Sir. Interested youth in Forestry should join and learn from him. His achievement in Forestry should be documented in print and digital media for international views and reference - this will be our best tribute to him.

[@dranandcn]

Mr. saravanan you are inspiration... Your face lights up when you tell about number of species.. Its the passion fueled purpose... You deserve a wide recognition! Congratulations sir!

[@rohitvarma2708]

this is what you call a Truly Satisfying Life...selfless devotion to mother earth

[@udhayakumar.v005]

More individuals like him are needed to our India 😍💜💜💜🙏. Much respect to him. ‼️💐& Also Thanks to those "Invisible Heroes"- Birds who spread seeds to other parts of the forest.!

[@syedrizwan8546]

Most of the people if they have 100 acres of land they only think to build flats, shops changing the land into commercialized and destructing lot of plants ☘️ and animals life they don't care about environment only they need to keep huge wealth for them and their heirs. Really we have to salute this great man who did such noble job, I pray to Allah to grant such interest in saving environment to all people, Aameen.

[@pranavk281]

People like him should be made famous. They are the real hope and if we want to have any hope of saving this world it would be with having more people like him.

[@microsyncron]

Wonderful work. Watching a programme on Indigenous species in Indigenous language (Tamil) makes it more pleasant.

[@nripenshenoy3238]

Great work by Mr. Saravanan 🙏 Small contribution for a big cause and a treasure for the future generations 🙏

[@Jenvlogs404]

Respect from deIhi, Chennai is top on my list to visit, so unique and iconic, so great keeping it safe!

[@sudhakarmaniam8605]

Governments need to take his expertise to develop such barren lands. Simple man ...... Such great and valuable contribution. He deserves all accolades .

[@RK-es8oj]

This model forest should be a national policy Every district and mandal, should have this type of forest Central and State governments must take necessary steps to implement this model This is need of hour 🙏🙏🙏 #savesoil

[@anandsharma7430]

People never vote for environmental parties. Such work only happens when left leaning parties appoint experts and forcefully implement afforestation by deliberately sacrificing "development projects". Most development consists of destroying forests and ecosystems, cutting trees in some form or the other polluting big shared bodies of water, etc. Yet people always vote for development "even if some forest land needs to be cleared for human needs". Humans are the problem, all of us. Hopefully a decade from now when everyone is dying from heat strokes and flash floods, people will realise that to live on this planet we first need food and water, much more than iPhones and cars.

[@upresins]

Children should to taught this in cschool and regular practical trips to be made compulsory

[@govindasamypillai9236]

Will help reduce global warming

[@thecherrytree6322]

What an awesome achievement👏 My observation: Simple, dedicated actions that attain profound results for Oneself, a People & a Community.

[@sukanthyranjitkumar8725]

Awesome Mr. Saravanapavan!!!! Well done!!! We need at least a few more people like you to generate many more forests!! Currently we're losing forests. So thankful for your dedication ❤🙏

[@shinchannohara9511]

First 40 seconds are enough to fall in love with this man... ❤❤❤❤❤

[@manindermann8164]

please give This great man a Postal address so the people can contact him or send money for next tree projects. his achievements & methods should be taught in all environment syllabi

[@siddeshnaik2296]

Please let go of this mentality do you think he needs your money if you really want to help then start doing this in your neighborhood. Only going to benefit nature as whole

[@it5617]

@@siddeshnaik2296 there's nothing wrong with the idea of contributing money. One must let go of the idea that money is insignificant. Money can help in building more nurseries and pay for costs of labour. The hypocrisy comes when we ourselves want to earn money and assume that others don't want monetary benefits for their hardwork or to keep the movement growing.

[@maheshr7724]

There is big dedication to do this .I am doing it in my own small garden around our building

[@shivakumar-bd1yz]

இவரும் ஒரு தேச பற்று கொண்ட வீரரே. இந்த தலைமுறையில் மிகவும் தேவையானது. நன்றி ஐயா.

[@kasturipillay6626]

What a humble and beautiful soul. BLESSINGS to you. You're a father of the soil. ❤❤❤🙏

[@suryakiranreddy2561]

We all should appreciate a person like Dr. Saravanan sir for his path breaking decision to build forest on barren land and I must really thank down to earth KZbin channel for bringing such a good informative vedio looking for more vedios like this.jai hind

[@sohailg9523]

Sorry for correcting ,it's Mr.D.Saravanan,he ain't a doctorate/doctor.

[@kethpoi3900]

Viewers may also like to see similar actions in the form of Mr jadav payeng who has single handedly planted 40 million trees covering 550 hectares of waste land in Majuli, Assam.

[@dhanalakshmiraghavan3429]

Proud of our brother.a big salute.govt should come forward to utilize his services

[@gopinathramachandran2736]

Great Work Sir. Dedicating 3 decades of your life to bring such a wonderful forest in dry region is something outstanding. Most of the times I use to think why not government / Corporates tries to build minimum one forest in every district. In addition to protecting existing forests, District administrations should plan to setup new forests and expand the same as much as possible.

[@siddharthparihar2148]

I am really excited and awaiting to meet saravanam. The work he had done in just 30 years is unmatched . I also want know more about making barren land into forest.... And thanks a lot to down to earth to come with such stories we appreciate your efforts and expect more such videos in the future.

[@RK-es8oj]

Great initiative, dedication to our mother nature 30 years struggle gives us beautiful Green forest which is inspiration to every one of us. All the best Saravanan sir 🙏🙏🙏

[@gopinathkrishnamurthy4457]

What a man! A silent warrior and hero! God bless him! Would love to spend some time at his forest if possible

[@msr8922]

What a thought this gentleman has... God bless you SIR

[@quantum_realiti1585]

Thanks for bringing him into light ❤️❤️❤️..we all respect and love your work sir.

[@seetharamansundararaman3237]

Great man.He silently made a great achievement in growing a forest.Hats off sir.🙏

[@chandrannarayanan9953]

Great. A selfless dedication... People like him should be recognized and encouraged for nation-building, should strengthen his hands. Hats off to you, sir..🙏

[@parthibanramasamy9554]

Real Hero. I hope he gets the proper recognition

[@likhisuryan7201]

Hats off to you Saravanan Sir. You're an inspiration for all.

[@muktashukla1806]

Yours videos made my day. I m so inspired by u guys. Respect to the gentleman for realing doing what matters the most. Save planet earth 🙏🙏🙏

[@hera-nf8mz]

He is a rare hero. it takes real guts for this sort of thing, people only appreciate you once you have been successful.

[@sudiptabiswas5078]

I feel so glad to see your effort brought life to future. I also belong from the land of Jadav Payang you are similar to him 🙏 my deepest respect for your work. I feel the world need a bunch of people like you and they can away bring back our earths lost vigour. I have also purchased a small barren land and have started to replenish it with indigenous and fruit trees through Permaculture. Wish one day I can also built a forest like you all did Sir 🙏.

[@adityasingh-jx5hs]

Huge respect for this gentleman. After a long time D2E uploaded this kind of video, enjoyed every second of it👌👍

[@zashaan]

Salute to Dr. Saravanan. He is an inspirational person.

[@syedrizwan8546]

The government of India has to give honorable award for this great man this is my request

[@samkatoch6521]

It will be unfair if his divine work don't become popular..... Deserve a documentary film on him ... ❤

[@naturemurali7331]

Excellent sir Nature bless you lot Avoid plastic disposal things please Save food save water save power save fuel save paper save trees save ozone save nature save life save Earth Stop viruses Stop Global Warming stop pollution

[@The_crazy_trio372]

Amazing contribution to Mother Earth sir! Salute to your work and continue to extend this knowledge to people. Especially educate the kids to start from now!

[@T1M6]

What an amazing gentleman . The world needs more people like this ..he shows the world what CAN be done . 👏

[@kpatel7995]

Outstanding Achievement by a Dedicated Human Being to create a Forest for Future Generation to have a Clean Future. Thanks.The Whole World needs to learn from him.

[@azeezabdul2930]

Very good sir You are real Bharata ratna

[@fram4246]

Wow. Uneven land without top soil. What a dedicated man, and his love for nature, environment making this lush green forest for clean air to breathe for our future generation and environment. He deserves lot more appreciation from the government.

[@gopaljee1467]

World does not need greta THANBERG but needs man like him Truly such kind of people make india proud

[@champjanlyn8740]

Only few people works for country , generation and nature without publicity. Love from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰

[@TheRKMoorthy]

Superb sir. We need to spread this message to create the awareness to protect the soil. Excellent contribution to the world community 🙏

[@rj6404]

Mother earth , Bhoomi , Ma has been respected so much in India , she is feeling overwhelmed with .. all the love , Indians r great people it's enshrined in the culture , this Bhoomi ma is proud of all these fine families , please continue the great work !

[@knightdave1986]

Only religious and spiritual people will respect the soil and environment.. Not a secular govt will..

[@konwalia915]

@@knightdave1986 nonsense it has nothing to do with religion.india is full of religious people who just destroy everything around them.

[@Stallion_1044]

Here come with north Indians with their religions and castes in this too

[@MainChoon]

​@@Stallion_1044 he never said anything wrong . Why so animosity? So much hate, shameful man

[@sivaprakashs9082]

@@Stallion_1044 What he said is nothing wrong. in his views he love earth. why you create controversy Mr. CONVERTED hindu ?

[@Waterrestoration]

I bow down to this great man. God in disguise. Such simple, humble and from the heart words. 🙏🙏🙏

[@mahalakshmishankar6952]

A phenomenal and heartwarming initiative by an individual who feels for mother earth in the real sense. I salute Mr.Saravanan for this.

[@smilealways2uma]

You must be awarded the highest honiur by Indian Government 🏆 My respects, love & Salutes to you Hon Saravanan Sir 💐 🙏 Very very proud of you for being the Father of this Green Child 🌳 I truly wish Abdul Kalam Ayya was there to witness this great initiative & you would have got his greatest gift.... hug & blessings 🙌 🙏 Sending lots of love and respects from Canada 🇨🇦 God Bless you sir. You must be appointed by the Government to visut all school Children & Youth to learn about the importance of Green Environment, Tree Ppanting & Earth Preservation 🌎

[@himmatjatt2262]

real heros of india....

[@nohandle23]

Salute to the toils of Mr. Saravanan and his commitment to restoring degraded lands..... 👏👏👏👏🙏

[@rebeccaboudreau7589]

Thank you! That forest is spectacular 🙏

[@srmchinni3]

I thank you so much DTE for bringing him to coverage and let us know him.

[@saleesh0089]

Proud moment in my life after watching this video, what a great man and great contribution to the nature ❤

[@nsmarkiv6096]

Saravanan sir, rombo nandri for what you have done and still doing 🙏💐. It is very inspiring. Greetings from New Zealand 🙏

[@mr.rnujjubhai7325]

Noble prize is also less for him....salute sir❤God bless you

[@anuradhavasudevan2602]

You are a great nature lover human being. You have done a great job in taking the earth to the future generation. 🙏🙏

[@rajadutta8635]

Salute you Sir .....you doing an indispensable work .Sir ,you should be given all the resources ,so that you can create more forests out of barren lands and motivate others to work in this field .

[@shanthiduraiswamy6085]

தமிழ் நாட்டில் இருக்குரவர்களுக்கே இந்த விவரம் தெரியாது. நன்றி. Auroville கை கொடுத்திருக்கிறது.

[@bjrnjensen7074]

Truly inspiring. Makes me want to go to India even more. Namaste from Oslo.

[@damomani6905]

Great work sir...big salute to those people who supported you (if any) financially for these many years.

[@nabilahmedkhan8052]

Hats off to you Sir ! We commending you for your achievement is just not enough Sir. Your achievement is far far bigger than any commendation that you may receive !

[@jameslorenzana612]

It is so interesting listening to Tamil. Such a beautiful Language. Certainly 30 years of dedication that should be passed on to the next generation.

[@devivinod]

We should take initiative for govt recognition for him , he did such a great job for our country and future single handedly

[@80Vikram]

Thanks a ton for sharing, god bless Saravanan sir and team who posted this video.

[@roopa4950]

Wish we could do just a little bit of it! Amazing, truly inspiring, huge respect for sir.

[@subbanarasuarunachalam3451]

Exceptionally laudable work worth emulating.When certain persons of the public are looting the country and its resources, there are wonderful men like Mr.Saravanan who contribute for the welfare of the Earth and its residents!

[@spiritsmrityk]

....and I am getting butterflies in my mind 🥰🌳🌴🌱

[@TubeThambiAuroville]

*thanks so much* for making this

[@samranasinghe8002]

You are doing something AMAZING! So much respect 🙏🏼🙏🏼 for you sir! I'm of sri Lankan origin...we need people like you all over the world!

[@estherstanley9801]

Amazing video! I thank this great person from the bottom of my heart for his wonderful contribution to the future generation! The Government of India has to give proper recognition to such a great human being.

[@yogeshs81]

Such a noble man contributing to a great cause! We must all do our bit in whatever ways possible. Truly inspiring!