Van Mahotsav: History, Date and How to Run a Tree Plantation Drive

What is Van Mahotsav?

Van Mahotsav means "festival of forests". For one week every July, people across India plant saplings and hold events about trees and forests. It is not a public holiday; it is a planting week, and most state forest departments run special drives and sapling distributions during it.

History

• 1947: a tree-planting week was held in Delhi from 20 to 27 July, organised by the botanist and administrator M. S. Randhawa.
• 1950: K. M. Munshi, Union Minister for Agriculture and Food, launched Van Mahotsav as a national festival, to be held every year in the first week of July.
• Today: it runs alongside other campaigns, such as Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam, launched on World Environment Day 2024.

Why the first week of July?

Across most of India the monsoon has arrived by early July. Saplings planted into moist soil, with weeks of rain ahead, put down roots before the dry months, so far more of them survive than those planted in summer. In parts of the south and north-east the rains come earlier or later, so local drives shift by a few weeks.

How to plan a Van Mahotsav drive

1. April: choose the site and confirm who owns it, who gives permission, and who will water and protect the trees afterwards.
2. May: pick native species suited to the soil and rainfall, and book saplings early; good nurseries run short in June.
3. June: prepare the land: clear weeds, dig pits, arrange tree guards and a water source for dry spells.
4. Two weeks before: send invites, plan transport, print banners and sapling tags.
5. The day: a short welcome, a planting demo, then plant in pairs. Tag every sapling.
6. After: water through the first dry season, weed, replace saplings that fail, and count survivors each year.

The plantation drive kit has an invite email, a welcome speech, captions and LinkedIn templates.

Ideas for schools, companies and housing societies

• Schools: one sapling per class, named and cared for by the class through the year; a slogan or poster competition in the same week.
• Companies: an employee drive at a nearby site, or a larger plantation run by a partner with teams joining for a morning. Tree plantation is an eligible CSR activity, so the programme can be part of your CSR plan.
• Housing societies: fill the gaps along boundary walls and roads, with residents adopting trees. See how housing societies can start a plantation drive.
• Families: plant one for a birthday or in someone's memory, or plant a tree online.

Van Mahotsav slogans

In Hindi: "वन महोत्सव का यही संदेश, पेड़ों से सजे पूरा देश।" More in tree plantation slogans in Hindi and 100 tree plantation slogans.

After the week: keeping trees alive

A plantation is judged by how many trees are alive three years later, not by how many went into the ground in July. Plan for watering in the first dry season, weeding, protection from grazing animals, and replacement of saplings that fail.

Grow Billion Trees plans and runs plantation drives across 14 states and cares for the trees for three years, with every tree geo-tagged on GreenTrack. 85% of trees survive across our programmes. Plan a Van Mahotsav drive.

Sources: Van Mahotsav (Wikipedia) · PIB background note, June 2024. Last updated: October 2026.

Further reading: Top 100 Tree Plantation Slogans: Short, Catchy and Save Trees Slogans · Tree Plantation Drive Kit: Slogans, Captions, a Speech and an Invite Email