Mumbai, Oct 5 (IANS): Actor Pankaj Tripathi is encouraging people to grow trees by endorsing 'Daan Utsav', a mission of planting more trees by Grow-Trees.com.

Daan Utsav, formerly known as The Joy of Giving Week is an annual festival that is celebrated from October 2 to October 8.

Talking about the initiative Pankaj Tripathi said, "Nature is not just a beautiful backdrop to click a selfie, a resource, a tool, an Instagrammable picture. Organisations like Grow-Trees.com help us to understand and respect ecosystems and I hope millions more get drawn to a massive mass afforestation movement and plant trees not just during Daan Utsav but even afterwards"

"Pankaj is not just a very gifted and intuitive actor, he has great empathy for the environment and for all living beings sharing this planet with us. I am happy that he is speaking out for nature and asking people to plant trees because his voice will for sure galvanise a large number of people to do so," said Bikrant Tiwary, CEO Grow-Trees.com.

The 'Mirzapur' actor added, "If even half of 1,392,700,000 Indians planted trees, imagine the green impact it would make. If you don't have land of your own where you can plant a tree, get in touch with Grow-Trees.com. Donate a tree instead of gifting bouquets on special occasions."

Pankaj added, "Oxygen and water are not free and rains do not come automatically. They are results of healthy ecosystems. Nature is a living, breathing system that sustains us and we must do what we can to make it healthier."

Grow-Trees.com is a social organisation that has globally facilitated the planting of millions of trees and initiated massive afforestation efforts. It also creates low-skill jobs, has a direct impact on carbon reduction, on the upgradation of water catchment areas, the wellbeing of local communities, and all living creatures.