Born into a poverty-stricken Halakkali tribal family in the Honnalli village in Ankola taluk of Karnataka, Tulasi had no formal education and her father passed away when she was just two years old. She had to work together with her mother and sisters to earn their livelihood. She had no formal education and was married when she was 11. Soon after, her husband passed away too.
At 83, Tulasi Gowda cannot tell how many trees she has planted in her life. She is said to have planted at least 40,000 trees but some estimates number them close to a lakh. Having essentially dedicated her entire life to the forests, Tulasi Gowda knows its green inhabitants like the back of her hand, and has deservedly been given the title ‘the encyclopedia of the forest.’
Tulasi has planted countless saplings that will grow, and have grown up to become trees that help the world at large to live a better life. She has also helped prevent poachers from destroying wildlife, and has worked to prevent many forest fires. Owing to her vast and accurate repository of knowledge of flora, she has also advocated the government and plantation owners which negatively impact the environment. On 26th January 2020, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her enormous contribution towards resuscitating the country’s forests.
The environmentalist Dr. Yellappa Reddy has also acknowledged Gowda’s contribution to environment conservation and called her concern towards nature ‘extraordinary’. He further reportedly said that she knows how to treat rare ethnic varieties. She single-handedly also tackled poachers and stopped forest fires. Reddy added that her contribution to the conservation of Western Ghat forest is ‘immeasurable’.
Some of the national dailies published articles on digital media.
https://feminisminindia.com/2020/06/22/tulasi-gowda-the-encyclopedia-of-the-forest/