Main Image via flimfreeway

Driven by the pain born of pollution caused by humans, 85 year-old Devagi Amma took it into her own hands to create a forest on her 5-acre land. 

Hailing from the village of Kolakai in Alappuzha, Kerala, Devagi Amma attributes her love for nature to her mother-in-law for cultivating the passion within her. Where she comes from, it is customary for men to join the corporate sector while the women were tasked with keeping agriculture alive.

For a long time, Devagi Amma was happily married and farming along side her mother-in-law until one day she met in an accident that caused her to give up farming entirely. 

Her mother-in-law was old and couldn’t continue the endeavor on her own. So farming completely stopped in her family. Having had to give up farming, Devagi Amma fell into a pit of depression, as she was unable to do what her heart longed to. 

3 years later, she found it in her to plant a sapling on her 5 acresof land. Gradually, the number grew with the support of Devagi Amma’s husband who acquired a variety of seeds for her to plant daily, till the day he died. An effort that spanned six decades, Devagi Amma now has over 1000 trees in her forest, which grow organically without any chemicals.

From fruit trees to herbs and medicinal plants, her forest is home to not only a variety of flora but also to the passing fauna. The couple left two lots of ground open to accumulate water during the rainy season to help the critters and beasts that found a home in her forest.

 The Indian government has recognized her work and Devagi Amma has been awarded two national awards and a number of state awards. 

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Source: awesomemachi