Thanks to numerous nature lovers, Fruška Gora has become richer today for 13,000 seedlings of Sessile oak. This large action was executed by EXIT Foundation and EU Delegation as part of the Natura2000 Project. “Give back to nature – Join, plant a tree!”, a joint initiative of EU delegation and EXIT Foundation was started at this year’s edition of EXIT Festival. This is just a first in the series of large ecological actions by EXIT, that with this afforestation launches its big ecological platform symbolically entitled “Green Я:Evolution“! The aim of this unique platform is to mobilise public and start afforestation in the country, Region and world, which in Serbia alone has been planned planting of over a million trees
“For years and decades, EXIT has been raising awareness of the importance of environmental protection, but today we live in time when the situation is truly alarming. We want to start mass afforestation, not only in the country and the region, but in the whole world, because it is simply the most effective solution for reduction of harmful emissions. Even if you deny the existence of climate changes, can anyone really mind planting of forests and parks? ” said EXIT Founder Dušan Kovačević at Fruska Gora.
More than 400 people participated in the creation of the new lungs of Serbia, including volunteers from the EXIT team, the EU Delegation to Serbia and member states, with the presence of the Ministry of the Environment, and the support of the Fruška Gora National Park and with the assistance of the Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade, and Mountain Movement of Vojvodina.
“Someone has said that planting a tree means planting a hope, and today we are committed to planting 13,000 hopes, with the goal of maintaining nature and helping it fight the climate changes. Our planet is sick, burning with fever, and we need to do something to lower that temperature and make it healthy, “said Sam Fabrizi, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, adding that” The European Union and Serbia have been cooperating for many years on different projects in the field of environmental protection dealing with improvement of the quality of soil water and air, and today we embark on a new task. However, we from the European Union are very ambitious, we have set a new goal, namely the European Commission has set the environmental priority in the Green Deal initiative as its first priority and I hope that Serbia will join us in this and that we will take some important steps together”.
In Serbia, each person on average generates a carbon footprint, that is, a greenhouse gas emission, of an average of 8,7 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is a major cause of climate change. The new 13,000 Sessile oak trees in Fruška Gora National Park will absorb over 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the next ten years, which will significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The Minister of Environmental Protection, Goran Trivan, also addressed the gathering: “Afforestation is the simplest and most effective way to combat climate change. What we are doing today is the credit of EXIT and I congratulate them on their work of 20 years. ” He also praised and supported the initiative to plant the first million seedlings throughout Serbia in the coming period, adding: “I congratulate them especially on this, because planting 13,000 trees means the beginning of planting a million seedlings, which is a mission.”
The action was initiated at this year’s EXIT Festival when over one thousand volunteers with a responsible attitude towards the environment applied for this ambitious venture at the Petrovaradin Fortress. All volunteers were provided transportation from Belgrade or Novi Sad, as well as refreshments, food, souvenirs and equipment needed for planting. After the action, a gathering was organized for all participants, and the luckiest in the prize draw also won tickets for Exit’s 20th anniversary from July 9th to 12th, 2020!
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