Earthtree and The Hima Mawphlang Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Credit Society (HMMPACS) celebrate World Environment Day 2026
162 trees. 8 species. 6 schools. One village and The Map of India
On a stretch of barren land in Jathang Village, Meghalaya, something extraordinary took shape on World Environment Day 2026. One hundred and sixty-two saplings, eight species, carefully selected, were planted not in rows, not in clusters, but in the unmistakable outline of India’s map. Schoolchildren, traditional leaders, community elders, and conservation workers bent together over the same earth, placing each tree with intention. By the time the last sapling went in, a nation had been drawn in green.
This was the centrepiece of how Earthtree and the Hima Mawphlang Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Credit Society (HMMPACS) chose to mark the day, not with speeches or banners, but with roots. And it was unlike anything this quiet village, home to just six households, had ever seen.
Before a single sapling went into the ground, the day began with prayer. It was a grounding moment, a reminder that what followed was not just an event, but an act of collective intention rooted in centuries of cultural stewardship.
“We gather today not just to plant trees, but to reaffirm our shared commitment to preserving and protecting the environment for future generations. May this day be blessed, and may the work we do here endure for generations to come,” said Shri Raising Lyngdoh, Bakhraw, Jathang Village
Not Just a Ceremony, A Commitment
The preparation started a week earlier. The ground was mapped, the outline of India drawn across the terrain, and holes dug in careful formation. In five years, the map of India will be visible in green from above. In ten, it will be a young forest. In a generation, it will be a model proof that small places, when given the right support, can do extraordinary things.
Six Schools, One Shared Mission
HMMPACS and Earthtree invited students from six schools across Mawphlang to be not spectators, but the heart of the celebration:
- Seng Khasi School, Mawphlang
- White Orchid School, Mawphlang
- Rev. T.J. Jones School, Mawphlang
- Mawphlang Secondary School
- Multipurpose Higher Secondary School
- Kheitman Memorial Secondary School
Each school sent its students to Jathang with a purpose. No passive observation, no sitting in rows listening to speeches. Every student was handed a sapling and asked to plant it. By the end of the morning, the numbers spoke for themselves:
Creating Next Generation of Environmentalists
A child who plants a tree does not forget it, and that is precisely why youth engagement sits at the heart of any lasting ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation) effort. The students at Jathang did not just plant saplings, they took on a stake in their survival, creating the kind of ownership that carries restoration work across generations. And as they grow alongside these trees, so too does the channel through which traditional ecological knowledge passes from the elders who have always known this land, to the young people who will one day care for it.
Speaking about the event, Myntri Sohlyia of Hima Mawphlang, Bah Riewshai Luther Sohliya, said, “The students who planted trees today will remember this experience for years to come. When they return home they will tell the stories of planting trees – please don’t fell trees , don’t destroy the trees and bamboo, the soil. Let these trees and bamboo grow so that there will be plenty of water and the air will become clean. These learnings are the most important part of today’s World Environment Day event because this day is not meant only for one individual, this is for our next generations to come”.
Addressing the gathering, the Lyngdoh of Hima Mawphlang, Shri CA Lyngdoh, said “On this World Environment Day 2026, we(have) come together, representing the Hima Mawphlang Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Credit Society. As the Lyngdoh of Hima Mawphlang, today am joined by the Myntri, the Headman of Jathang village, board members of Jathang village, village elders alongside Earthtree Enviro private limited, to do tree plantation. This is our shared commitment under the Regeneration Meghalaya project to plant trees in lands that are barren and not productive. Through this tree planting activity in Jathang village, we believe the land will eventually become fertile, productive and suitable to plant other species”
The Sacred Groves: Nature’s Living Classroom
Jathang sits within Hima Mawphlang, a traditional institution whose relationship with the natural world stretches back centuries. The sacred groves – the law kyntang that surround the area are living proof of what sustainable stewardship looks like when it is passed down through generationsThese forests remain dense with biodiversity. Their canopies are intact, their soils rich, their streams clear. Modern conservation science is only beginning to confirm what the Khasi people have always known: that people and forests belong together. Protecting nature is not a sacrifice — it is the source of everything that sustains life.
World Environment Day 2026, themed “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future,” could not have found a more fitting home.
What Comes Next
World Environment Day 2026 was one day. The work is decades. In the weeks and months ahead, here is what Earthtree and HMMPACS have committed to:
- Protecting saplings through their critical first year: weeding, mulching, and monitoring, with community members trained to lead this care.
- Expanding restoration: additional plantings across degraded land, roadsides, and community spaces across Jathang.
- Building livelihoods: agroforestry, non-timber forest products, and ecotourism opportunities that grow alongside the forest.
- Passing on traditional knowledge: Sacred Grove guides sharing centuries of ecological wisdom with the very students who planted alongside them.
- Monitoring rigorously: tracking ecological and community outcomes to learn, adapt, and improve.
From Jathang, Outward
Jathang is a village of six households. It is also, now, a model.
It shows that you do not need to wait for national policy or global agreements to start restoring ecosystems. You start where you are. You involve the people who have always known the land. You invite the children who will inherit it. And you plant, one sapling at a time.
For Earthtree and HMMPACS, World Environment Day 2026 was not just a celebration. It was a commitment. The forest will grow. The village will remember. And from Jathang, something much larger than 162 trees is taking root.
Speaking about the event, Director, Community Engagement, Earthtree, Sunny Donkupar Mawiong said “We are grateful to the community for standing with us to celebrate, The World Environment Day. Our teams worked on this for weeks with the support of the community. By drawing India’s map, we wish to showcase to the word the power of working together to regenerate land. We are glad that our initiative was recognized by the Chief Minister Office of Meghalaya and shared across official platforms”
About this initiative
Hima Mawphlang’s World Environment Day programme is part of a broader commitment to ecological restoration and sustainable livelihood development across Meghalaya. Earthtree works at the intersection of ecological restoration, climate resilience, and community-centred development. To learn more or support the work, visit earthtree.in/contact