Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Tulsi Gowda, a Padma Shri recipient and the “Mother of Trees,” also known as “Vruksha Maate,” passed away on Monday at her home in the Karwar district’s Honnalli hamlet in Karnataka. Her age was 86. A number of age-related illnesses had been plaguing Tulsi Gowda. She was a member of the Halakki tribe and was famous for planting and caring for lakhs of trees around her, essentially establishing her own forest. She spent more than 60 years advocating for environmental conservation and devoted her life to the environment.
She received a doctorate from Dharwad Agricultural University in appreciation of her achievements. Her two children and four grandchildren survive her. In 2021, the Indian government honored her with the Padma Shri award in recognition of her lifetime of commitment. Narayana and Neeli welcomed Tulsi Gowda into the world in 1944 in Honnalli village. Tulsi, a sacred plant, inspired her name. By the time she was twelve, she had grown to appreciate and be connected to nature, particularly to plants and trees, having grown up in the forest.
She was dubbed a “encyclopedia of forests” by local environmental activists. Tulsi Gowda was well-versed in a wide variety of forest-dwelling plants, trees, and creepers. She also knows how to turn plain terrain into a forest. She was regarded as an expert on over 300 native plant and tree types. In the past, Tulsi Gowda planted and raised around 30,000 seedlings annually. She is unique in that she has so far planted and maintained hundreds of thousands of trees. In order to provide for her two children, she joined the Forest Department as a daily wage worker after losing her husband when she was a young woman.
