Eco-Art Competition 2022

TO SUSTAIN LIFE - PLANT THE SEED I am Padmabhushan Aravindan , aged 17, studying in standard 12 and I hail from a coastal village in Nagapattinam, India. Our village is surrounded by beautiful greenery and creamy sandy beach bordering the Bay of Bengal. I am always excited to see the nature and life forms around me and wonder the way the seeds sprouts, birds sing, butterflies flutter, fishes swim, the rainbow and the passing clouds. The idea of planting is important to me as through my grandparents, parents and teachers I have learnt that we have the responsibility of protecting, utilizing and sustaining the mother earth with all her potential to feed the world and to combat climate change. The environmental elements displayed in my painting are: children planting the seed, birds and animals feeding the fruits from the garden, trees providing life support to human and wild animals, beautiful milky waterfall, lake and stream providing and safeguarding the environment. I believe that the pristine forest and wildlife, water resources and integrated sustainable food production is imperative to leverage climate change mitigation. Plants are known to absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide, release oxygen into the atmosphere, provides habitat for humans and wildlife and to regulate water cycle and climate. My painting portraits the significance of planting the seed which would in turn support the survival of complex life systems. It also interprets that planting seeds to increase forest cover would combat the effects of deforestation, increase CO2 capture, and habitat security for wild life. Healthy water resources and forests would sustain mankind. I conclude that, sustaining life on earth is possible only by planting the seeds.