By Krishiv Shah
ReWild is an organization that aims to restore damaged ecosystems and invasive species by promoting the “rewilding” of ecosystems and the planting of native species to promote biodiversity. With the gracious help of Mr. Raju Rajan of ReWild Long Island, the Gita Vicara Leadership Program & Young Indian Cultural Group of Long Island got involved with ReWild. It was able to initiate the Indian-American families of our community to plant native species and increase biodiversity right from their gardens!
Our initiative this year began in mid-January, assembling the GVLP Class of 2025 team to execute this project. We assigned each junior to a GVLP family, responsible for contacting and pre-ordering the plants. Our goal was to get the broader Indian community of Long Island involved with this project and that was successful. We engaged almost all GVLP families with the help of our outreach team. We then began to order the plants, and by early May we were able to pick them all up from the ReWild Garde @ Dodge in Port Washington.
Multiple GVLP Parents and Juniors came along to assist with this process and the venue for distributing orders was Christopher Morley Park on 5/3/24. Additionally, a couple of our juniors also led ReWild Part 2, through winter sowing. Winter sowing involves planting seeds in outdoor containers during winter, where the cold breaks their dormancy and the containers protect them until they germinate in spring. They successfully distributed the seeds on 5/11/24 @ Herricks Community Center. It was a wonderful “pre-Mother's Day" effort to engage the community in sustainable practices and planting native species.
(Photo courtesy: Author)
(Photo courtesy: Author)
Our GVLP Advisor & Mentor Rathi Raja says, "To see our commitment to Mother Earth take shape in a concrete Rewilding Long Island initiative, bringing families together with youth and adults participating, is a dream come true."
It was amazing to see everyone engage in the collective effort all with the theme of Prithvi in mind. The theme of the Gita Vicara Leadership Program that was instilled back in 2022 was Prithvi Mother Earth. Prithvi is the name of the goddess of the Earth in Hinduism. One of the most important aspects of Earth, and what makes it unique from all other planets in our solar system, is nature and the variety of life, also known as biodiversity.
Biodiversity is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of our planet, wherein a large variety of animals, plants, and humans all depend on each other. As humans, we rely on biodiversity for the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the beauty of nature. Living on an island, invasive species can have a dire effect on the ecosystem of Long Island, including native species endangerment and extinction. This is why the ReWild Initiative is so important, to promote the planting of native species, leading to increased biodiversity for our island.
It may seem small -- just planting a native plant on your lawn. But that can go a long way, especially when we were able to engage almost 40+ families across Long Island in this project. Our impact is the most important part, that no matter how large or small, our GVLP community contributed to the betterment of our ecosystem, one plant at a time.
If you would like to get involved with this movement, do not hesitate to contact [email protected].
---------------------------------
(Krishiv Shah is an Indian-American senior at Syosset High School with aspirations to pursue a degree in South Asian Studies and Business)
