The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Mrs Lindiwe Hendricks, launched Arbor Week 2006 at Johannesburg Zoo on Friday, 1 September 2006.
This year’s Arbor Week will take place from 1 – 7 September. The theme of the event is “Plant a Tree, Grow our Future”.
The event was attended by approximately 3 500 learners from 32 schools in Gauteng and North West provinces. The learners will participated in a tree-planting ceremony and were given seeds and trees to plant in their own schools. This is a joint initiative by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and Total South Africa to educate the country’s youth about the importance of planting trees.
Issues that will be communicated and highlighted throughout the campaign are:
“¢ The importance of trees and their key role towards sustaining our livelihoods, both now and for future generations;
“¢ Ensuring the maintenance of our forests in order that all our trees are protected;
“¢ Ensuring the long-term sustainability of our forest resources;
“¢ Empowering communities, especially women in managing and improving their living conditions;
“¢ Highlighting the vital interdependence between the economy and our forest resources;
“¢ Developing a South African society across the demographic spectrum that is aware of forestry related issues and that is taking responsibility for it;
“¢ Celebrating trees as a source of life and the contribution of the sector to a prosperous future.
Arbor Week is an annual awareness campaign in which thousands of South Africans in urban and rural areas celebrate by planting trees in schools, parks, churches, gardens, streets, etc, to herald the beginning of Spring. The campaign, which is driven by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, is a platform for highlighting opportunities for sustainable economic development, poverty alleviation through job creation and community participation.
The event was changed from Arbor Day to Arbor Week in 1997 when the number of participants grew, leading to a demand for more trees. The event is also part of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s campaign for Greening South Africa. The campaign seeks to accelerate the greening of areas such as the townships that were previously overlooked when trees were planted.