Rourkela: For most teachers, lessons end with the school bell. For Snigdha Rani Dash, a headmistress in Bargarh district, teaching has become a life-long mission to protect nature. The 50-year-old has transformed her home into a bio-diversity hub, nurturing over 1,600 species of trees, medicinal and ornamental plants. Also, she has planted trees in schools and public spaces by spending from her earnings. Snigdha works at Govt Rajkumar High School, Buromunda, in Gaisilet block. She started her career with PM Shri Govt Nodal High School, Gaisilet, in 2007 .Since childhood, Snigdha collected saplings and planted them in her yard. After building her house in Gaisilet in 2017, she created a garden that features 25 varieties of roses, 40 varieties of mandarins, 45 adeniums, lilies, lotuses, aquatic plants, palms, bamboos, bromeliads, calatheas and ornamental shrubs.It includes clove, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, turmeric, ginger and pineapple. Over 100 medicinal species, including amla, arjuna, ashoka, ashwagandha, sarpagandha and aphamarga, grow there, attracting visitors and plant enthusiasts. “I have loved trees and plants since childhood. Whenever I find a sapling, I would bring it home and plant it. Over time, that fondness became a habit and then a mission,” Snigdha said.During her teachers’ training, she and her friends converted an abandoned patch near their college into a garden. She collaborated with Gangadhar Meher University, Sambalpur, to develop a tulip garden. As a teacher, Snigdha has led plantation drives and encouraged students to become custodians of nature. During the monsoon, she collects saplings from forest nurseries and sources rare plants from Kerala, Karnataka and Mumbai. Every year, she and her students prepare thousands of seed balls scattering them across barren spaces to restore green cover.