The president of the Ecological Youth Association "Green Center", Miloš Džiknić, decided to mark April 22, Earth Day, and also his 30th birthday, by launching a campaign called "Birthday Tree".
"With the 'Birthday Tree' campaign, I want to send a message that we can make a birthday a day that celebrates both the birthday person and nature. Instead of expensive celebrations, we can plant a tree - give something to the planet, our city, local community and future generations," said Džiknić, an ecology specialist who represented Montenegro at the 2021 World Youth Congress on Climate Change.
He will plant 30 personally grown oak seedlings in the Trebjesa park-forest and, in this way, as he pointed out, call for a new culture of birthday celebrations - one that gives to nature and remains for the future.
"The locations where the planting will be carried out were determined with the previously obtained professional opinion on the suitability of the terrain from the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection of the Municipality of Nikšić. The seedlings were grown from acorns with personal effort, carefully cared for until the planting stage, according to the instructions in the educational brochure of the Montenegrin Society of Ecologists," said Džiknić, who will plant pedunculate oak, holm oak and turpentine oak seedlings.
"The campaign aims to encourage young people and their parents, through personal example – instead of a conventional birthday celebration – to celebrate their anniversary by planting a birthday tree, instead of, as is often the case, expensive and sometimes tasteless parties. This symbolic planting is not only a personal act – but also an invitation for others to join in. The campaign also has an international dimension: colleagues from Peru and Australia, with whom I collaborated during climate programs, also joined in by planting trees in their countries, spreading the idea around the world," emphasized the initiator of the campaign.
The campaign, he said, promotes strengthening environmental awareness among young people, personal responsibility in the fight against climate change, connecting with nature through personal planting, from acorn to tree, and active care for local protected natural resources.
"We also warn about the importance of respecting the profession and procedures: although all planting initiatives are welcomed, it is necessary that they be implemented in cooperation with the competent institutions, in order to avoid the planting of inadequate, ornamental or non-native invasive species, which can seriously disrupt ecosystems," emphasized Džiknić.
The campaign was joined by his family and friends, as well as representatives of the ecological movement "Ozon", the Secretariat for Environmental Protection of the Municipality of Nikšić, the Nikšić Tourist Organization, the Wool Institute of Montenegro, the Local Initiative "Straševina", the Social Enterprise "Let's Green Montenegro", the Montenegrin Society of Ecologists, the Society of Young Ecologists of Nikšić, the Media Team, the Artistic Association "Scena" with the symbolism of a gift to nature - "In honor of the Earth, a tree as a gift."
St. M.
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