https://www.radioergo.org/en/blog.php?article_id=2032
(RADIO ERGO) - Lasanod youth have been planting trees in public places in Lasanod in an effort to green the dry town in northern Somalia’s drought-hit Sool region.
Abdiweli Yasin Suudi, chairman of the Environment and Social Development Club organising the campaign, said it was the first time anyone had taken on such an initiative.
“When we saw that trees are scarce in this city, we decided to do this work. We have planted 300 trees in hospitals, schools, universities, streets and other public places like the city centre,” he said.
The trees chosen are flowering and shade trees. The sapling trees are bought at $3.5 each from Buhodle, 70 km away in Togdheer. Member contributions are used to fund the campaign.
Hamdi Yusuf Awale, 18, the club’s vice-chair, is one of the 15 girls who make up the club’s membership of 25.
“Girls are more enthusiastic in this campaign than the boys! Some of us contribute $10 a month,” she said. “When we started planting trees, people thought we were joking saying we were too young to come up with such a plan, but now they’ve seen our work and accepted our noble cause in protecting the environment.”
Abdihafid Hassan Abdirahman, leading the tree planting, said certain members were assigned to monitor the trees planted. “The sites where we planted the trees were very dry, without a single tree, but now the land has changed to green with many plants,” he said.
The youth club is also involved in cutting down a tree called Prosopis juliflora (‘algarroba’), as research carried out by Nugal University has shown that the tree prohibits the growth of indigenous vegetation and degrades pastoral grasslands.
The club also campaigns to stop littering with plastic bags, and to encourage residents to use cooking gas instead of charcoal to avoid deforestation.
