Ten wells equal to a step well, Ten step wells equal to a tank|

Ten tanks equal to a son, Ten sons equal to a tree|| 

(Matsya Purana 512)

For the past 60 years, Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj has been fighting to save and revive all the forests of Braj Bhoomi. He started the journey of protecting trees and forests by fighting for saving Gahvarvan in Barsana. He physically protected the forest day and night. It took him over 46 years to offically protect it and had it declared as protected forest area.

There are 12 large and 48 small forests in Braj as mentioned in various scriptures and literature of Braj. Out of 60 total, only 4 forests are left in Braj. This is a serious situation. lack of trees poses a great environmental threat to the dwellers.

Taking on this situation, Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj decided to start a campaign to make “Green Braj”. A few years back, over 50,000 trees were planted at Kalavata Hill in Braj. The hill was badly damaged as a result of illegal mining and Maan Mandir attempted to revive the dignitiy of the mountain by covering it by thousands of trees.

Thousands of tree were also planted in Gahvarvan. The saadhus of Maan Mandir laboured day and night to plant the tree. Gaharvarvan is surrounded by hills. During summar, this area is very hot and dry. If enough water and protection is not provided, trees in Gahvarvan would not survive. The saadhus used to water the plants twice a day in the morning and later in evening. Watering the plant is not an easy tasks in the Gahvarvan. Hundreds of buckets of water has to be filled with water and then taken to the place where the trees are planted. It is an extremely difficult task. It almost took all of their day in taking care of the plants and eventually serve them to grow as trees. Maaningit Van is an burning example of effort.

Few know the Mango is Shri Krishna’s favorit fruit. And few know that there is NO Mango Orchard in Braj. Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj decided to create a Mango orchard so that fresh Mangos can be offered in every temple in Vrindavan to Shri Krishna and Shri Radha. It was setup in Paani Gaon near the bank of Yamun River. Hundreds of Mango trees were planted. Now they are being taken care of and the trees are growing.

In January, Shri Baba Maharaj announced tree plantation drive in Braj under which 1,15,000 trees will be planted in entire Braj. It will be done in a systematic and in an organized way. A team dedicated for the purpose will visit one village at a time and work the local Panchayat of the village and trees are planted in an agreed upon best posible places. The village is made custodians of the trees and  a local body will take responsibility to take are of the planted trees.