Municipality marks 2021 Abor Day in Bekkersdal
Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) celebrates 2021 Arbor Day by promoting the culture of preserving nature in Bekkersdal.
The Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) celebrated 2021 Arbor Day in Panyapanya Street, Bekkersdal.
Environmental Officer at the RWCLM and coordinator of the event Gladys Mahlangu said the 2021 theme was forest restoration, in which people were given plants to care of. The aim was to promote the culture of preserving nature.
“We celebrated Arbor Day at this particular spot in Bekkersdal because it was identified as an illegal hotspot. The aim is to rehabilitate it,” Mahlangu said.
She added the day was marked jointly with departments and entities such as Department of Forestry Fisheries and Environment, Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Rand Water, South Deep and South African National Civic Organization (SANCO).
We’ve also joined hands to clean up the area and thanks to the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, 350 trees were donated of which 168 were fruit trees. The rest were indigenous trees. They have also donated seeds to the community members because many of them were keen to start up their own backyards gardens at their homes,” Mahlangu said.
“We’ve also embarked on a take-a-tree home initiative where members of the community could either take a fruit tree or indigenous home to plant. This is an effort to grow a culture where people are greening their environment and help sustain the ecosystem.”
During the event, Mahlangu said they’ve also assisted three local schools namely Ipeleng Primary Schools, Izanokhanyo Primary School (Simunye) and Seatile Primary School with tools to sustain their agricultural projects, seeds and 10 trees which were planted at each school.
Mahlangu concluded that, “According to the national calendar, Arbor Day can be celebrated through the month of September and was not restricted to just one day. Planting to celebrate Arbor Day signifies how proud we are of old indigenous trees that identify our heritage as African people. It shows that we take care of our environment and appreciate what mother nature has to offer,” Mahlangu said.
