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.
00:00Tamil Nadu is known for its palm trees long vital to local life but rising
00:07demand for palm board in construction urbanization and climate change is
00:12taking a heavy toll on these iconic trees in the early days you could see
00:18coconut and palm trees everywhere along the coastal areas but now due to poor
00:23maintenance the number of palm trees has decreased in many places in the point
00:30Prathie Jean decided to do something about it and establish the tan palm
00:35foundation I left the teaching job that I had had for 17 years and started
00:43protecting palm trees I began creating awareness among children's in schools and
00:47colleges by distributing pamphlets explaining why palm trees are important
00:52and why we should care about saving them people started understanding my cause
00:56and joined hands with me public awareness is key to conservation Angel Felix has
01:05worked with the former teacher for eight years talking with residents about the
01:09importance of these trees both for community life and local ecosystems when
01:17the tsunami came the absence of palm trees allowed even the small waves
01:21to reach the hearts but when palm trees were there it was different the
01:29waves never reached the huts palm trees grow very tall and the roots go deep into
01:35the soil when rainfall occurs the water is stored in the roots of palm trees which
01:43in turn increases the groundwater level Prathie Jean and her team have
01:52organized more than a hundred seed planting festivals restoring palm cover along
01:57highways and coastlines often with the help of school and university students she
02:02shares her work online and encourages palm tree planting and preservation through
02:06exhibitions and webinars through skill training programs she teaches people
02:11especially women how to earn a living by making palm based crafts many people from
02:19different districts of Tamil Nadu make palm based products they are small
02:23businesses we buy their products and distribute them for free during school and
02:29college visits to raise awareness we also hold palm product sales fairs by purchasing their
02:39products and selling them in the market we provide the artisans with an income
02:44nicknamed the palm princess Jean is promoting ice apples the fruit of the sugar palm and palm
02:54nectar a sap based drink to help boost palm climbers earnings but she says stronger state support is
03:03still needed you know that they are neighboring states their governments get 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
03:22I believe the Palmyra palm sustains life storing water creating jobs and
03:30supporting communities the palm princess is fighting to protect it
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