NEW DELHI — Swami Prem Parivartan, known as Peepal Baba, continues his nearly 50-year mission to restore India's diminishing green cover. His efforts address Delhi's persistent haze, scorching summers and toxic winter air, offering a simple approach to environmental challenges.
Parivartan, now 60, has turned a childhood interest in trees into one of India's largest grassroots planting movements. His “Give Me Trees” trust estimates it has planted or preserved 26 million trees since it began.
This initiative has restored vegetation across more than 270,000 hectares, or 2,700 square kilometers. This area is more than twice the size of Delhi, a sprawling megacity of 30 million people, and nearly as large as California's Yosemite National Park.
Parivartan outlined the philosophy behind his work. “It is not about planting one tree or two trees or 1,000 trees,” he said. “It’s about how you manage the land on which those plants have been planted.”
His personal journey began on his 11th birthday when he planted his first trees, including a peepal, or Ficus religiosa. These trees, known for their vast spreading roots, hold sacred significance in several Indian religions and have provided shade for centuries in villages, temples, tea stalls and markets.
After university, Parivartan chose to forgo an academic career, instead traveling across India by scooter to encourage tree cultivation. He estimates he covered nearly 540,000 kilometers (335,500 miles)—a distance equivalent to circling the Earth more than 13 times.
His nickname, Peepal Baba, or “tree father,” originated from a villager he encountered during a planting session. He said in his 2026 autobiography that the nickname “traveled faster than my scooter” and carried more authority than the term “environmentalist.”
“When I was young, I planted saplings like a soldier,” Parivartan said, reflecting on his early efforts. He added that “what started as a solitary act of planting became contagious,” attracting friends, volunteers and supporters to his cause.
Parivartan's trust, initially reliant on individual and community donations, has recently secured support from major corporate donors to expand its operations. He also uses social media, where he has garnered over 1.6 million Instagram followers, to spread his message.
“We did not wait for governments to act,” Parivartan said, stressing the grassroots nature of his movement. He maintains that any small actions individuals can take for the environment are essential.
In his 2026 autobiography, Parivartan refers to peepal trees as “cooling towers of human hope.” His focus remains on the tangible impact of his work, rather than solely on numerical counts. “I never counted shade in digits,” he said.
