TUDA plans ‘mini forest’ near Tirupati

It is based on reforestation approach advocated by Japanese botanist

If competition leads to excellence in humans, why not in trees? It is with this idea that the Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) has proposed to develop a park with high-density plantation, with the larger aim of environment management and carbon dioxide mitigation. The idea is simply based on the ‘survival of the fittest’ concept. Random saplings are planted in close proximity, that is, at a distance of half a metre, so that the truly deserving ones not only survive but also emerge stronger. The concept was introduced in Japan in the eighties by Akira Miyawaki, a renowned botanist and expert in plant ecology, as a new and innovative reforestation approach. The specialist in seeds used native plant varieties and recommended an unusually dense plantation to trigger competition.