It took the staff of the Solan forest division a marathon effort to change a 2 hectare mountainous tract comprising arid, rocky and nearly barren terrain into a lush green surface sustaining a variety of useful species. When the Chief Minister, Prof P.K. Dhumal, expressed the desire to organise a states-level Vanamahotsava in this division in August last year on a mountainous tract along the National Officer, Mr S.K. Sharma, took it as a challenge. He not only made the steep southern slope of Kothon, 8 km from Solan, suitable for supporting plantations but also made a number of sustainable changes to replace the existing xerophytic species like cacti growing there with useful plants.