by Kristin Engel
Cape Town - The City, in partnership with the Embassy of Ukraine, took to the Bo-Kaap on Saturday to plant trees in support of the global environmental expedition, “Greening the Planet”, the event was also attended by representatives from the community and the Ukrainian Association of South Africa.
This is an ongoing project that intends to plant one million trees in one day in 100 countries, to raise awareness of the environment and the restoration of the planet’s ecosystem. Each tree planted can be found on the project’s map.
The Ukrainian Embassy provided Cape Town with six pomegranate fruit trees for which the Recreation and Parks Department will be responsible for the future maintenance as well as preparing the planting location and potting soil.
Mayco member for community services and health Zahid Badroodien said being part of this initiative would help the City achieve its long-time goal of gaining urban forest status for Cape Town.
“While our horticultural staff will maintain the trees that are being planted, we also call on the local community to take ownership of the trees. With this event we are putting the importance of trees in the spotlight – a lovely precursor to our annual Arbor Week activities that will take place in September this year.”
The initiative was supported by the international organisers and partners of the Greening the Planet project which include Greening Ukraine, CEO Club Ukraine, Business Woman Club, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine as well as the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s ambassador to South Africa, Liubov Abravitova, said the event set a positive tone for the development of friendly relations between her country and South Africa.
“New trees are what everyone needs today, regardless of their political views, property status, religion, gender. Such simple and ordinary things like green leaves, crown shade and protection from the scorching sun are really what we all depend on today,” she said.
kristin.engel@inl.co.za
Cape Argus