Rotary Club of Kakuri has planted 500 economic trees along Yakowa Way in Kamazou, Chikun local government of Kaduna state to serve as food and shield the area from erosion and other environmental hazards.
The 500 economic trees planted on a 3km stretch on both sides of the road in with the technical support of Kaduna state Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, are to serve purposes of fruiting, medicinal, ornamental and supporting the environment.
District Governor of District 9125, Rotarian Ayoola Oyedokun, told Blueprint during the tree planting exercise in Kaduna that apart from planting commercial trees, Rotary also planned to address erosion and flooding by eliminating dumping of water satchet, polythene bags, plastic containers and other biodegradable materials in drains and on the road.
“We are launching the tree planting campaign of Rotary Club of Kakuri and supporting the environment as one of the areas of focus in which we carry out projects in Rotary Club. We are planting minimum of 500 economic trees at a start which would be increasing all around this Kamszou location to help protect the environment. This is an open environment area so the trees would help support the environment.
“We are also looking at eliminating the constant dumping of waste in the drains. If you look around, you see litters of satchet water container, plastic bottles, polythene bags, plastic containers, we want to help reduce the waste dump. This is to help reduce hazards of biodegradable materials as well as curb erosion and flooding. We also want to help households to convert to solar energy, to power their lightings and water with solar,” he said.
Chief Forest Ranger, Kaduna state Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Malam Hamisu Yakubu Suleiman, said the ministry is collaborating with Rotary International to mitigate the effects of climate change, environmental hazards and ensure beautification in Kaduna state.
“We are supporting Rotary International with 500 assorted seedlings and technical staff manpower to show them how to plant trees. The exercise will cover 3km on boat sides of the road. The trees include Umbrella trees which is ornamental, Neem tree, which is medicinal, cashew trees, which is for food, Cissisium, which is for fruit and medicinal,” he said.
President Rotary Club of Kakuri, Rotarian Abubakar Yakubu, said the tree planting exercise is just the beginning, noting that there are other programmes lined up in the new Rotary year. He however called for support of residents of Kaduna in achieving more programmes of Rotary Club.
