200 volunteers take part in 25th afforestation action in Dalmatia
- by croatiaweek
- in News
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
The 25th ‘Boranka’ afforestation action of areas in Dalmatian devastated by fires was held on Saturday in the Split settlement of Donje Sitno.
Two hundred volunteers diligently planted new trees all morning above the Church of the Holy Trinity, where the forest area was ravaged by a catastrophic fire in 2017, which burned more than 4,000 hectares of forest around Split.
This Saturday, the majority of the 200 volunteers were Split scouts from the Scout Club “Marjan” and the Squad of Scouts of Sailors “Spinut” and students of the School of Natural Sciences Split and 5th Gymnasium “Vladimir Nazor” from Split.
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
Together, they planted several thousand new trees in seedlings and seeds, and in accordance with the instructions, only indigenous species were planted, namely holm oak (pine), pine (pine) and black pine.
“I have been participating in Boranka from the very beginning, since 2018, and I am still happy to respond. As a scout, nature is a big part of my life and I see no better way to give it back for all it gives us than through this commendable action. I am especially happy to see new faces every time, and especially the students who, through Boranka, were given an extraordinary opportunity to get involved in helping the local community and nature,” said Marija Jukić, a scout from the Spinut Sea Scout Squad.
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
The Croatian Scout Association, Croatian Forests, Croatian Mountain Rescue Service and the Split Scout Association, as the main organisers of the Boranka campaign, organised the 25th consecutive afforestation campaign in Dalmatia as part of the popular Boranka campaign, which has been held for the 4th year in a row. So far, about 7,600 volunteers have participated in Boranka’s actions, making Boranka the largest volunteer action of afforestation of fires in the whole of Europe.
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
The organisers provided all volunteers with free transportation to and from the afforestation site, seedlings, protective equipment, planting tools, drinking water, sandwiches and fruit. Afforestation actions are held every Saturday in the wider area of the city of Split, ending on Saturday, October 16, 2021. Afforestation in Donje Sitno will continue next Saturday.
Organised by Boranka, Croatian Forests, which provide seedlings and other planting material, greatly help scouts and other volunteers, and their experts educate volunteers and supervise the planting itself. HGSS volunteers are the main logistical support in the organisation of afforestation.
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
The Directorate of Civil Protection provides tools and equipment for planting and other logistics, the City of Split provides free transportation of volunteers by bus, Red Cross volunteers are available to volunteers in case of an accident.
(Photo: Igor Pavlović)
Boranka has been supported for years by the European Parliament, the Ministry of Agriculture, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Embassy of Canada, UHDDR, the IMAGO agency and the German-Croatian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The main sponsors, symbolically named the Main Supporters of this year’s Boranka are Raiffeisen Bank, Radenska Adriatic and Henkel.
