Last October, 9,000 volunteers joined forces to plant over 230,000 trees in one day as part of one of the largest volunteer actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina the "Let's do it - one million seedlings in 1 day"campaign organized for the second year in a row and supported by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. The action was implemented on 24 October 2013 across the country and involved a total of 72 municipalities in both entities.
Last October, 9,000 volunteers joined forces to plant over 230,000 trees in one day as part of one of the largest volunteer actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina the "Let's do it - one million seedlings in 1 day" campaign organized for the second year in a row and supported by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. The action was implemented on 24 October 2013 across the country and involved a total of 72 municipalities in both entities.
Trees planted were mostly conifers (spruce and white pine), pine, deciduous trees and forest fruits. The idea for the project came from the knowledge that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not take sufficient care of the forests which are one of the greatest natural resources of our country, says Bozidar Mihajlovic, president of "Ruke", one of the two NGOs behind this initiative.
Other partners in this action were the NGOs "Mozaik prijateljstva" from Banja Luka, the Department of Forestry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as schools and universities in the participating municipalities. Seedlings were provided by cantonal forest companies and the public utility company "ume Republike Srpske". HT Eronet, a TV/Internet service provider, also sponsored the event and helped raise awareness of the importance of environment protection among the population.
"United Nations Volunteers are proud to support Let's do it as a team of active and responsible young people, representing the youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina so positively. Volunteering is a way to show how much you care about your community, society and the state. Time spent working with young people is always interesting and UN Volunteers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are devoted to close cooperation with groups of young people like this. Young people are the hope for the future", said Hyun-Joo Youn, the UNV Programme Officer during the actions press conference.
Volunteers of the "Let's do it - one million seedlings in 1 day" action will continue distributing seedlings to schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to increase green areas in schoolyards, while it is expected that the action will take place again next fall. In addition, local volunteers are planning to launch similar campaigns, such as "Let's do it - clean our country in 1 day."