27.12.2024
African Rivers a nonprofit international rivers conservation joined [today] Lusaka City Council, Lions Club of Makeni, IKOE Foundation Zambia, Finnish Embassy in Zambia and volunteers to plant different tree species along Great East Road starting from Airport Roundabout to Chelstone/Avondale Traffic lights in Lusaka. The tree planting exercise was conducted under the theme: “Inner City Greening” and one of the participants a Lusaka local farmer, Mr.Musekwa Chilomo pledged to donate 1,000 trees to upscale the Tree planting campaign across the country.
Dr. Kamayoyo commended the Lusaka City Council, Lions Club of Makeni, and Finnish Embassy in Zambia including lKOE Foundation Zambia for having resolved to embark on this innovative and compelling exercise aimed at building climate resilience through tree planting, instilling environmental responsibility, promoting a tree-based economy, and restoring the ecological integrity of forests and landscapes. The fight against climate change can only be defeated, if all players united through multidisciplinary and multistakeholders’ approaches in order to enhance transparency and accountability for a better future of planet earth and sustainability.
As a way of upscaling climate action agenda, the continent of Africa ought to embrace a more persuasive culture of turning their respective countries into tree-based economies that significantly contributes to reducing carbon emissions. Dr. Kamayoyo stated that planting of trees is one such effective way of combating climate change globally and even at city level, which continue to ravage the environment, disrupt weather patterns and injure watersheds across the world today. He further argued that planting of trees was undeniably synonymous to promoting reforestation which ultimately reinforces carbon sequestration, prevents soil erosion and increase oxygen production.
Globally, there are many Tree planting initiatives and African Rivers would like to help refocus the interventions so that tree planting along riverine ecosystems is considered as an integral weapon of combating vicious climate change. Dr. Kamayoyo argued that the tree planting campaign should be embraced by every household so that Zambia can significantly contribute to the global target of planting and conserving over 1 trillion trees by 2050.
He further emphasized that the campaign should be extended to planting more trees along the riverine ecosystems in order to restore our rivers, lakes and streams, and protect aquatic animals such as fish, crocodiles and hippos. Dr. Kamayoyo further encouraged the stakeholders to also involve school going children and members of surrounding community in future events concerning tree planting exercise and other environmental protection initiatives so as to inculcate the concept and responsibility of nature conservation at an early age and across sections of society.
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