Samoa’s 5 Million Tree-Planting Campaign 2022-2028 Starts in Savaii

Samoa’s 5 Million Tree-Planting Campaign 2022-2028 Starts in Savaii

5 July 2022

Itu-o-Tane College and Laumoli Primary School, students and teachers joining Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Forestry Division, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Global Environment Facility (GEF), Small Grants Programme (SGP), the University of the South Pacific (USP) Samoa Campus Discipline of Agriculture and Food Technology, kick-starting Samoa’s 5 Million Tree Planting Campaign 2022-2028 with a tree-planting event at Vaipouli MNRE grounds – the event was funded through the European Union Intra-ACP GCCA+ Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience Building (PACRES) programme at USP.

More than 70 participants comprising of students and teachers from Laumoli Primary School and Itu-o-Tane College, kick-started Samoa’s 5 Million Tree Planting Campaign 2022-2028 with a tree-planting event hosted by MNRE Forestry Division at Vaipouli grounds, funded by the EU PACRES Project located at USP Samoa Campus.

School children and teachers were given an overview of the usefulness of EbA by MNREM Forestry Division, and emphasis was placed on ensuring planting of trees and reforestation to provide protection from impacts of climate change and disasters, especially soil erosion within the extensive wetlands and 2 major catchment areas within the district, as well as Muliolo Stream which runs parallel to Vaipouli grounds, in keeping debris from damaging coastal vegetation.

Laumoli Primary School grounding 540 poumuli and asitoa trees to kick-start Samoa’s 5 Million Tree Planting Campaign 2022-2028 at Vaipouli MNRE grounds.

540 native trees were grounded poumuli and asitoa and to mark the event, participants were given gloves, a caps and water bottles and sets of planting tools comprising of forks, picks and shovels were gifted to both schools.

Students and teachers of Itu-o-Tane College and Laumoli Primary School grounding 540 poumuli and asitoa trees to start Samoa’s 5 Million Tree Planting Campaign 2022-2028.

In giving thanks to PACRES and MNREM for the planting tools, Principal of Itu-o-Tane College, speaking on behalf of both schools in attendance conveyed “thanks from the bottom of our hearts for the planting tools gifts”, which were “timely given the college teaches Agriculture-Science” and “absence of such gifts from the Ministry of Education”, and that the “investment today in re-planting will be continued as Primary School students will eventually be educated at the College”.

The tree-planting marked the start the 5 Million Tree Campaign 2022 – 2028, and continues on the back of Samoa’s achievement of the 2 Million Tree Campaign target in 2021, and was supported through funding from the European Union- funded Intra-African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) Plus Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience (PACRES) Project, delivered by Samoa Campus.

Laumoli Primary School teachers gifted planting tools by MNREM Forestry Division, USP and UNDP, funded by EU Intra-ACP GCCA+PACRES Project at USP.