A small industrial city in Gujarat was the scene of one of the most ambitious efforts to green the region on World Environment Day. The Vasu Foundation has announced its Mission 10,008 project, launched in January this year, has been completed after a year-long effort. Over the past year, the foundation planted a total of 10,008 trees in different areas of the city of Vadodara. The organisation has stated that this milestone will serve as a starting point for future work, with a plan to plant 1.08 lakh trees by the year 2035, in the next ten years.

The initiative started on World Environment Day in 2025, and it has gradually become a community and personal initiative. The campaign organisers engaged local residents in planting saplings in empty fields, but they went to great lengths to establish genuine human connections. Throughout the year, participation included a very wide cross-section of the local community – from students in schools to senior citizens in retirement homes and from the factory workers in industrial areas to local police and Air Force defense personnel. These groupd took part in the plantation activities with the slogan "Green Vadodara, Clean Vadodara" and created a community involvement in the project. 

The project has continued with the establishment of a dedicated internal task force known as "Vasu Dhar". The team of 25 members is a committee established within the organisation of Vasu Healthcare for the purpose of doing the heavy lifting in the campaign. The members of Vasu Dhar were on the ground all year round, scouting ideal planting locations, liaising with civic authorities, and physically planting the drives. In the final ceremony, the company gave a small silver coin to each team member to recognise their efforts and commitment, acknowledging their contributions to the project. 

The selection of plants in the campaign was not purely for aesthetic reasons, but for environment over time. It is an effort to avoid the planting of non-native ornamental plants and choose hardy plants that are suitable for the local climatic conditions such as Neem, Gulmohar, Champa and Asopalav. These trees are well suited to cope with the extreme heat of Gujarat's summer months, have lower water requirements, and provide dense shade, enhance air quality and create nesting habitat for urban birds and insects. The plantings were carefully designed to be established in locations such as in high-traffic areas like parks, schools, and residential neighborhoods, as well as in industrial areas like GIDC estates in Makarpura and Savli.

Hardik Ukani, MD of Vasu Healthcare, said that the numbers on the spreadsheet were not the aim of the project. It was about building a culture of environmental responsibility within the community, he said, referring to Mission 10,008. Each tree planted is a decision by a local volunteer or institution to care for the environment. This is not the end of the project for the foundation; it is the beginning of a longer journey toward ecological stewardship over the next nine years.

The project is a model in which local businesses can play a role in climate action. As the newly planted trees take root across Vadodara, the project continues to focus on a long-term strategy for survival and has encouraged community involvement by volunteers in the maintenance of the trees. As the Vasu Dhar team works towards the 1.08 lakh target, the effort is expected to contribute to changes in the urban landscape, creating a cooler and healthier environment over time.