1. Prasiddhi Singh Prasiddhi Singh, born in Chennai, was four years old when Cyclone Vardah struck, destroying her favourite trees. This left a lasting impact on her and paved the course of her life going forward.

Known as a young environmentalist, the 11-year-old has planted thousands of trees in Mahindra World City, including 28,500 fruit trees and 20 mini forests.

Floral

She also founded the Prasiddhi Forest Foundation, where she aims to increase green cover and promote recycling. With her foundation, she has planted 1,00,000 trees so far.

Floral

2. Thaaragai Aarathana Born and raised in Karappakam, Chennai, she shared a passion for ocean and marine life just like her father. “Thaaragai was already swimming at the age of 3 and started scuba diving when she turned 5,” he shares.

Wanting to do something to protect the aquatic life, the father-daughter duo started taking deep dives to pull out plastic from the water. So far, Thaaragai has completed 45 dives and given more than 70 community talks. The duo has collected over 1,200 kg of plastic waste and ghost nets together.

3. Aman Sharma Aman (18), very passionate about the environment, spent most of his time at forest reserves developing a love for bird-watching. “Just seeing the kind of destruction that we have been doing to the environment and in turn to these creatures breaks my heart,” he says.

He also petitioned the Prime Minister and the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Development to take note of the issue and act accordingly.

Floral

4. Aditya Dubey Recognising that single-use plastic is one of the biggest woes of the environment, Dubey at the age of 16, started actively working for the environment. He filed a petition before the National Green Tribunal urging e-commerce platforms to rethink the amount of plastic they use.

“Since 2016, I have been running two community service campaigns (i) Plant A Million Trees Initiative: which works in the field of tree plantation, reducing air pollution and usage of single-use plastic; and (ii) Save The Street Children Campaign: which works for the welfare of street and underprivileged children,” he informs.

5. Licypriya Kangujam Recently emerging as a fierce voice in environmental protection, Licypriya from Manipur captured attention at COP28 in Dubai. At the age of 12, she was able to garner the attention of global platforms urging to “end fossil fuels”.

A Times article reports, “In a bold move, Licypriya dashed onto the stage holding a sign that boldly proclaimed, ‘End fossil fuels. Save our planet and our future’. Following her impromptu entrance, she delivered a compelling speech protesting the continued use of fossil fuels, earning her applause from the audience.”

.