Trees for the Balkans: Tree planting campaign with school children against climate change
By Bistra Mihaylova
Together with school children and their teachers from eight different schools, we planted 42 trees in Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.
As a project partner of WatSanPlan, we joined the campaign Active against Climate Change of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. The goal is to help combat climate change by planting trees.
“Trees absorb CO2 from the air and thus make an important contribution to combating climate change. Trees or forests can cool the air temperature of the region and provide habitat for numerous animals and plants.” explains the campaign.
Our five partner organizations from the Balkan region organized the tree planting events, where teachers and students from primary and secondary schools decided on the selection of trees. They were then planted in the schoolyards of the respective schools in the different regions.
- Albania – Our partner Woman in Development together with children from two schools in Shkodra (Vrake and Gruemire) planted 24 Olive trees, a symbol of peace, fertility, prosperity, health, luck, stability and tranquility.
- Albania – Our partner Milieukontakt together with children and teachers from a school in Tirana (Ardian Klosi) planted 2 Acacia baileyana trees and 1 Picea Excelsa tree.
- Republic of North Macedonia – Our partner Journalists for Human Rights together with children from three schools in Skopje (Blaze Koneski, Aleksandar Makedonski and Braka Ramiz i Hamid) planted 4 Japanese Boam trees and 5 Prunus Serrulata.
- Romania, Aquademica – In a secondary school in Timisoara, planted one apple tree, Malus domestica.
- Serbia – Our partner Environmental Ambassadors for Sustainable Development together with children from the school St. Trifun, in Aleksandrovac, planted 5 fruit trees: Apples Malus domestica, pears Pyrus and cherries Prunus avium.
The campaign took place within the framework of our BMUV-funded WSSP project on “Water and Sanitation Safety Planning“. The ecological benefits of the tree planting campaign have helped all WSSP partner organizations, together with local community representatives, teachers and students, to improve their efforts to increase local understanding of saving water and maintaining oxygen-rich air.
For further questions about the project activities, please contact bistra.mihaylova@wecf.org or verena.demmelbauer@wecf.org
