New Delhi: Drawing a parallel between the nurturing of nature by Mother Earth and the nurturing of human lives by our mothers, the Prime Minister exhorted people across the world to plant a tree as a mark of love, respect, and honor for their own mother and to also take a pledge for protecting trees and Mother Earth.

Central and State Government Departments and Local Bodies will also identify public spaces to assist the #एक_पेड़_माँ_के_नाम #Plant4Mother campaign.

Plantation of trees is central to the theme of World Environment Day 2024, namely halting and reversing land degradation, building drought resilience, and preventing desertification. Besides the #एक_पेड़_माँ_के_नाम #Plant4Mother campaign, the plantation of 80 crore trees by September 2024 and 140 crore trees by March 2025 has been planned, following a “Whole of Government” and “Whole of Society Approach.” The trees will be planted across the country by individuals, entities, community-based organizations, Central and State Government Departments, and local bodies.

The Department of School Education, Government of India, has motivated Eco-clubs in 7.5 lakh schools to carry forward and promote the message of #एक_पेड़_माँ_के_नाम. Summer camps in schools are focusing on the theme by integrating it with experiential learning, which is one of the core precepts of the New Education Policy. The importance of planting trees, which nurture human beings and indeed, all living beings across the planet, and the inter-relationship between tree, Mother, and Mother Earth, will be especially emphasized through the idea of Plant4Mother. All the Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme (EIACP) Centres of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, as well as its institutions such as BSI, ZSI, ICFRE, NMNH, etc., will be actively engaged in promoting awareness about tree plantation as well as undertaking tree plantation efforts under the umbrella theme of #एक_पेड़_माँ_के_नाम. Other Ministries and Departments are also playing a significant role in taking forward the theme of #एक_पेड़_माँ_के_नाम. Awareness in youth is being generated through MY Bharat of the Ministry of Youth Affairs. The Ministry of External Affairs has also taken this message to the global level and exhorted citizens of other countries to join hands in this massive tree plantation drive with the core precept of #Plant4Mother.

The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi were also present on the occasion. /BI