Sustainability is at the heart of Prathee Jeen's palm conservation work, which includes tree planting, educational campaigns and training people to make palm products.

Tamil Nadu

Palm trees, once abundant and vital to life in Tamil Nadu, India, have seen a decline due to urbanization, increased demand for palm wood, and climate change. Prathiji Jeen, a former teacher, founded the Tan Palm Foundation to address this issue, raising awareness and organizing seed-planting festivals to restore palm cover with the help of local communities and students.

Jeen's initiatives include educational outreach, promoting palm-based crafts for economic empowerment, and advocating for greater government support. Her efforts not only aim to conserve the region's iconic trees but also to sustain livelihoods and protect local ecosystems.

One woman's mission to save Tamil Nadu's palm trees

Tamil Nadu is known for its palm trees, long vital to local life. But rising demand for palm wood in construction, urbanization and climate change is taking a heavy toll on these iconic trees. In the early days, you could see coconut and palm trees everywhere along the coastal areas. But now, due to poor maintenance, the number of palm trees has decreased in many places. Prathiji Jeen decided to do something about it and established the Tan Palm Foundation. I left the teaching job that I had had for 17 years and started protecting palm trees. I began creating awareness among children in schools and colleges by distributing pamphlets explaining why palm trees are important and why we should care about saving them. People started understanding my cause and joined hands with me. Public awareness is key to conservation. Angel Felix has worked with the former teacher for eight years, talking with residents about the importance of these trees, both for community life and local ecosystems. When the tsunami came, the absence of palm trees allowed even the small waves to reach the huts. But when palm trees were there, it was different. The waves never reached the huts. Palm trees grow very tall, and their roots go deep into the soil. When rainfall occurs, the water is stored in the roots of palm trees, which in turn increases the groundwater level. Prathiji Jeen and her team have organized more than a hundred seed-planting festivals, restoring palm cover along highways and coastlines, often with the help of school and university students. She shares her work online and encourages palm tree planting and preservation through exhibitions and webinars. Through skilled training programs, she teaches people, especially women, how to earn a living by making palm-based crafts. Many people from different districts of Tamil Nadu make palm-based products. They are small businesses. We buy their products and distribute them for free during school and college visits to raise awareness. We also hold palm product sales fairs. By purchasing their products and selling them in the market, we provide the artisans with an income. Nicknamed the palm princess, Jeen is promoting ice apples, the fruit of the sugar palm, and palm nectar, a sap-based drink to help boost palm climbers' earnings. But she says stronger state support is still needed. When you see our neighboring states, their governments give more importance to palm trees and palm-based products. If we got the same support, people who depend on palm trees could earn more money, and many more people could take up this work. That's what I believe. The Palmeira palm sustains life, storing water, creating jobs and supporting communities. The palm princess is fighting to protect it.

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