The project under Banjul City Council (BCC), is a three-year project funded by the European Union (EU) at a tune of Euro3.1 million.
Afusainey Gano, project manager for City Link Banjul-Ostend project, explained that the day’s exercise is one of the project components aimed at making the City of Banjul greener.
The overall project framework, he added, seeks to look at five areas ranging from capacity building, Crab Island rehabilitation, waste management, greening of Banjul and health component.
“As part of the greening component, we will be looking at the beach and to plant coconut trees to make the city green and beautify it. Banjul has been known for its mangrove because it has been here for centuries, but we are losing some of them. It is important to replant as many mangrove as possible, which is connected in making Banjul green and to promote bird watching and tourism.”
Gano indicated that about 3, 000 coconut trees have been planted in Banjul and extra 2, 500 has already been procured to be planted at the Banjul beech.
‘Trees are also planted along the streets of Banjul in order to make the city beautiful.”
Augustus Sanyang, resident and leader of Ndangan community expressed delight with the initiative, noting that planting mangrove is a good move as most of the existing mangroves are draining.
“It is very important to have this project coordinated in Banjul. We are surrounded by the water and we know that the most important plant around the river is mangrove. I am happy that members from Hamza Barrack joined us and I know they will serve as watchers on these planted mangroves.”
Amadou John, national coordinator for West Africa Bird Association, thanked all the participants, who came out to support the project.
“We started the project last year and we had planted almost 5, 000 propagules. We are also targeting to plant the same number this year. We have planted 500 in today’s exercise and our target is 5, 000.”
