Church groups in the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh have joined a government ini-tiative to plant millions of saplings to arrest climate change and propagate a message of conserving water.

All nine Catholic dioceses in the state joined the government’s 12-hour long tree plantation drive on July 2. The government claimed 60 million saplings were planted in one day; most of them on the banks of the river Narmada, considered a holy river by majority Hindus in the state.

“It was a great move in the direction of protecting the environment, conserving water and promoting greenery, thereby arresting the ill-effects of climate change,” said Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur.

Bishop Almeida issued a special circular to all parishes and Catholic institutions, urging priests, nuns and the laity to actively participate in the state’s plantation drive, said Father Somy Jacob, a parish priest of Jabalpur.