The Israeli founders of Sadhana Forest, Auroville explain how a team of volunteers reforested 70 acres barren land and changed it into a tropical forest

As Sadhana Forest in Auroville turns 18, founders Aviram and Yorit Rozin explain how a team of volunteers worked together to turn a lunar landscape into a lush, tropical community

“It began with the process of thinking about our lifestyle: How we live, how we raise our children, what we eat…,” says Aviram Rozin. He is talking about the Sadhana Forest in Auroville, which he has been developing along with his wife, Yorit Rozin for 18 years. Spread over 70 acres, the forest attracts over 1,000 volunteers annually from across the globe; they come not only to help maintain it but also to learn to live a life that causes the least damage to the Earth. Aviram and Yorit are both from Israel and were in their 30s when they arrived at Auroville, a multi-cultural confluence founded in 1968. People from across the globe congregate here to live in the spirit of universal brotherhood, forming communes that work on diverse projects. “Eighteen years ago we embarked on this novel idea of reforestation. The land in 2003 was dry and white from a mixture of clay and pebbles. We did not require a torch in the night,” recalls Aviram, explaining that it reflected light even in the dark. “There were no animals. When it rained the water drained away quickly and left no puddles behind. It was a lunar landscape.”