The exercise is designed to fight deforestation and also minimise the impact of climate change.
The exercise, which has now become an annual event, was championed by the Village Development Committee, Kombo Jalinkas Development Association and Su Kiang Jali Diaspora Association. Organisers said the event was also meant to cement the already existing cordial relationships among the villagers most especially the young people.
The exercise shows the planting of 23 different types of seeding ranging from forest trees to edible trees. The trees that were planted include maghoney, detariun-senegelensis, gmelina, cassia samia, mangoes, oranges and sweetshup among others.
Speaking at the event, the alkalo of the village, Sutayring Drammeh, hailed the villagers for coming up with such initiative, adding that it will go a long way in restoring the lost forest cover in the area. “During our time, we didn’t have this kind of exercise. Therefore, I implore you all to continue on such an initiative for the betterment of the village.”
“Our objective is to ensure that there is unity among the villagers in our quest to bring rapid development to the village. Nothing will be achieved in the absence of unity. Again, we are doing this tree planting exercise for our future generation as we are reaping the fruits of trees that were planted by our parents,” Lamin Kajutou Drammeh, the chairman of Kombo Jalinkas Development Association posited.
Wandifa Jankeh Drammeh, the coordinator of the initiative, urged inhabitants of the village to ensure that the planted trees are protected against bush fire and animals, adding that the importance of trees cannot be over emphasised in our lives and livelihoods.
Lamin Bajo, the regional forestry officer for Lower River Region (LRR), urged other villages in the region to emulate Jali in the restoration of our lost forest cover.
“It’s evident that bush fire, rampant tree falling and charcoal production are the major things happening in LRR. The region now recorded the highest number of bush fires which has contributed to the great reduction of the forest cover in the region. Previously, it was considered that LRR, especially in the inner part, was one of the areas with the biggest forest cover. However, due to the activities such as tree falling and charcoal production among others, this is now a history and is causing serious trouble to the environment.”
Bajo added: “If such practices continue in a few years to come, the area is going to suffer seriously and it will cause forest degradation with impact of global warming and climate change. We depend on rainfall for our agricultural purposes. This year, we have seen drought persisted in the region for about more than 20 days before we had a rainfall. This is an alarming example to everybody that if what is happening is not stopped; and measures not taken, then it will result in higher consequences that we may not be able to bear.”
“Therefore, it’s important to restore those places that have been affected by fire or people during tree cutting or charcoal production. Restoring those places is very crucial not only for the people but also for the domestic animals we have,” he said, while further claiming that tree planting will go a long way in combating global warming, and at the same time, minimise the impact of climate change.
The tree planting exercise ended with the planting of trees at the hospital, women garden, young farmers’ farm, village forest with others distributed among various compounds.
