By Madiba Singhateh
As one of the environment advocates said, “it is one thing to plant a tree, but is another to keep the tree”, which happens in some scenarios, as every summer millions of seedlings of trees are planted around the globe, including The Gambia.
Just months into the rainy season, thousands of seedlings are already been planted in forests, wetlands, coastal areas, communities, towns, and villages, to reduce climate change impacts, minimizing global warming and other climate variables.
Trees are one the most important natural resources to human beings because without trees life itself becomes almost impossible.
Trees provide oxygen and improve air quality.
It also reduces the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the amount of CO2 the atmosphere has already absorbed.
But are some of the trees taken care of after being planted?
Though trees planted in forests grow naturally, those planted in coastal areas and other places need to be taken care of.
Speaking during the planting of 100 coconut trees last month 26 July, organized by the High Commissioner of India, Dakar in partnership with Green up-Gambia and the Indian Community in the Gambia, Kemo Fatty from Green UP Gambia said: “It is one thing to plant a tree, but is another to keep the tree; we are moving from tree planting to tree growing, that is why we find these trees here.”
“We will continue throughout the coastline as the Gambia has 84 Kilometres of open coastline, so we will ensure that this continues from Banjul to Kartong; that way, these coconut roots can be interlocking and hold our sand pitches and the forest,” he said.
He said they have to take care of their environment, and that sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future to fend for themselves in all their actions.
“Today is a reminder to our planet that has nurtured us and given us sustenance and the little we can do is to care and be stewards,” he said.
Speaking on the importance of the environment, the Indian High Commissioner in Dakar, Diñker Asthana, said they also have a campaign called Plant for Mother for people to plant trees in the name of their mother in India, adding that under this campaign, they planned to plant 800,000000 million trees.
He said they have identified public places which are being cleaned under this scheme.
He thanked the government of the Gambia for cooperating with them, noting that the plants are beneficial to all of them because they contribute to the betterment of their lives and the planet.
Minister of Environment Rohey John Manjang said the environment influences the lives of every human being.
“It is one thing to plant but making sure that the trees are growing is our main concern; we are having climate change issues because we have not taken adequate care of trees on Mother Earth, but we use almost all that we planted, so thereby we have to go back to the original way,” she explains.
Maanjang said the coast is a serious concern for the Gambia because the coast is “taking a big space in the main Gambia land”.
She expressed happiness at the increasing number of fruit trees planted to add value to the environment.
She added these trees are vital for so many things, particularly for purifying the environment, and the air they breathe.
Without trees, she said, the environment gets polluted in this industrial age, indicating optimism in planting more trees and making sure they also grow.
She argued that the destruction of the environment is not by accident but by common will, saying they willingly participated in destroying the earth together because they thought nature was just a gift.
“Yes, it is a gift but we should use it wisely. I call on everyone to plant more trees,” she said, while commending the partnership between Green-up Gambia, the government of the Gambia and the Indian High Commissioner and the Indian people.
