Natural History Wanderings

The Punjab reported

Where wind once scraped over bare, cracked soil, there’s now a low, continuous whisper of leaves rubbing against each other. The air feels heavier, cooler, like someone turned down the brightness on a harsh world. Men and women walk along a dusty track flanked by young trunks, some no thicker than a wrist, others already casting generous shade. A boy in a faded football shirt stretches out his hand and touches a leaf, almost like he’s checking it’s real.

Twenty-five years ago, this entire valley was a burnt, eroded scar. Nothing grew higher than your knees. Livestock kicked up grey dust. People moved away because the land could no longer feed them. Today, those same hills are a surprising patchwork of green. Small forests stitched together by human stubbornness and patient work.

Read more After 25 years of reforestation, once-barren landscapes are now absorbing millions of tons of CO annuallyAfter 25 years of reforestation, once-barren landscapes are now absorbing millions of tons of CO annually