Project Profile

HERE’S A Kṛṣṅa conscious project you might like to support or get involved in. We’ll tell you what the goals are, who’s involved, what’s going on, what’s blocking the way, and how you can give a hand.

Project

Reviving the sacred forests of Vṛndāvana.

Headquarters

London, England.

Project Leader

Ranchor Dāsa, 40, from London. Ranchor joined the Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement in 1970. He is a writer and a consultant on multi-faith and environmental issues.

Goals

Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṅa’s holy land and one of the most popular pilgrimage centers in India, is in a serious state of deforestation, environmental neglect, and pollution.

“We aim to stop this decline,” Ranchor Dāsa says, “and to encourage a sense of ecological responsibility among the local people through education and community action.”

Ranchor Dāsa will use the Vṛndāvana project as an opportunity to work internationally with the World Wide Fund for Nature to promote an awareness and understanding of the environmental values contained within the Vedic tradition.

Details

The focus of the project will be the restoration of the pilgrimage path around the town of Vṛndāvana, regularly walked by large numbers of pilgrims. A tree nursery and information center will be established to raise indigenous trees, flowering shrubs, and religious and medicinal plants for replanting along the path. The local community and pilgrims will help plant and restore the path.

The program will educate local people, pilgrims, and the wider community of devotees about the care of Vṛndāvana.

Immediate Plans

The nursery is being established now. In September 1991 design work will begin on the exhibition and information center at the nursery site. Janmāṣṭamī 1992 (August) will see the official launch of the project: the first trees will be planted along the path; the exhibition and information center will be opened to the public; and books and resources for schools, the local community, and pilgrims will be published.

How You Can Help

Volunteers are needed to work in Vṛndāvana as organizers, community workers, and researchers.

Anyone with a special knowledge of tree husbandry, forestry, or gardening is particularly welcome.

Help is needed to raise funds from international government agencies, voluntary agencies, and charitable trusts.

Limited funds are available to support the right persons to work in India. For further information contact: Ranchor Prime, 10 Grafton Mews, London W1P 5LF, England; phone: (0)71 380 0749. Or contact: Toṣaṅa Kṛṣṅa Dāsa, ISKCON Guest House, Raman Reti, Vrindavana, U.P., India.