Pune: 27-Year-Old Environmental Activist Moin Pathan Takes On Climate Change, One Seed Ball at a Time

I will do anything and every possible thing for the environment, says Moin Pathan, resident of Yerawada, Pune, who works tirelessly toward the cause of tree replantation.

10 May 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari

All of us face the boiling brunt of summer heat every year but only a few have the determination to work towards restoring the balance in our climate. 27 year-old law student and Amazon Development Center employee, Moin Pathan, is one of those few people. 

Moin began his fight for the environment in 2016 after he saw his mother suffer a heat stroke and collapse in front of him. That was the day he decided that he would devote his life to the cause of combating climate change

Moin has an initiative which involves collecting seeds of fruits like mangoes and jamun, along with other seeds like Peepal, and making seed balls with them. Elaborating on the process, he said he gets the fruit seeds from juice vendors and fruit sellers, dries them out for a good while, scrubs them clean and turns them into seed balls by covering them with mud. “Just cleaning them out takes me a minimum of 45 minutes”, he added. 

He advised to put a layer of salt or wood ash in order to preserve the seeds from catching fungus, to those who are interested in germinating them. 

After this process is completed, he either goes about the city and shoots the seed balls into the ground or donates them to NGOs, nonprofits and individuals working towards the same cause. He has thus far collaborated with a number of organisations like the Pune Ploggers and Anandvan foundation. Along with these nonprofits, he has found helping hands among local corporators of his vicinity like Danial Langde and Anwar Pathan. 

One of the corporators commended Moin’s dedication to the environment and shed light on how he aided Moin by giving him locations and providing him with means of conveyance. “It is a very wonderful initiative to plant trees, he (Moin) has my full support”, added Danial. 

He also delved into the challenges he faced in the initial stages of his journey and said, “I used to have to dig out seeds from the garbage cans of vendors because they would just throw them away. I felt hesitant in the start but then my love for the environment transcended that feeling of embarrassment.” He continued, “Now, since the vendors are aware about my work, they provide me with these seeds themselves without asking.” 

Highlighting the current obstacles in his path, he spoke about how these seeds cannot be planted anywhere due to certain municipal restrictions and the fear of stray animals consuming the plants. “The best place to shoot seed balls is on highways”, he pointed out; on account of this, his new mission is to visit bus depots every weekend and distribute these seed balls to bus passengers, so that they can shoot them out on their way.