JOWAI: Star Cement Limited (SCL), Lumshnong, has taken a massive step in its attempt to restore degraded land in its limestone mines.
The cement company, on Saturday, planted as many as 10,200 saplings of 50 native species in its 70 hectare ‘Lumshnong Limestone Mine’ to generate greenbelt around the mining site and to restore the degraded land.
The Akira Miyawaki Model of Environmental Forest Plantation for rehabilitation of degraded lands has also been adopted for the plantation drive under the guidance of Shantanu Dutta, Additional Director, Central Pollution Control Board, who is also a member of the three member committee formed by the NGT for restoration of environment in coal mining areas of Meghalaya.
Planting more than 10,000 saplings in a single day is a significant step taken by the cement company and it may be noted that the ‘Akira Miyawaki Model’ of Environment Forest Plantation was developed by Professor Akira Miyawaki and Professor Emeritus in Yokohama National University, Japan.
It is a form of dense plantation to recreate dense native forests which is done by planting species of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) selected on the basis of vegetation surveys in nearby ecologically undisturbed areas.
This ‘dense plantation model helps to rehabilitate degraded land, generate and enhance ecological wealth out of native natural resources in attaining a stable ecosystem.
