Just last year he planted eleven trees.
“I do not want to be a media sensation,” said Vladimir Dimić, until recently an anonymous citizen who is planting trees in Zagreb. He saves money for seedlings and then plants them all around the city, usually at locations where the city-owned company Zrinjevac tried to plant something but did not succeed. He was recently featured in an article and has since started receiving numerous queries from other people wishing to follow in his footsteps, reports Jutarnji List on October 7, 2018.
“I am the kind of person who always replies, so I started answering all the messages and inquiries I have received. I did that for a few hours but then realised I could not go on, There were too many messages coming,” he explained.
Some say that the community should somehow use the positive energy which has been created by him with regards to the planting of trees. “When the situation calms down, I will be happy if there are just a few people who will persevere and truly plant at least one tree a year. It would be wonderful for as many people as possible to take part, but we will see,” said Dimić.
Dimić’s story is truly unique. He came to Zagreb from Slavonia, where his parents taught him to love the trees. He has spent the last 33 years planting trees in Zagreb on his own initiative and has now motivated others to start thinking if they could also do something for the community.
A man from Australia wrote to Dimić asking if there was a fund which financed the tree planting drive, some people wanted to donate seedlings, a man from Zagreb offered him land to plant trees, and others wanted to help him.
“Last year, I planted eleven trees, which is perhaps a bit too much, almost an obsession. It would be wonderful for people to plant at least one or two trees,” said Dimić. “Some people think I am some kind of an expert and ask me how to plant their trees. My goal is just to encourage people to plant one tree a year on their own. If they decide to plant it, they need to save money for the seedlings, find the location and plant a tree. Now is the ideal time of the year for planting. You can also do it in early spring.”
“I plant trees at public locations, so I try to plant the same kind of trees which used to be there. If it was a maple, I plant maple, if it was a pine, I plant a pine, and so on. As soon as you plant a tree, you feel good, since you know you did something good. Some citizens have even proposed an establishment of an organised initiative. Maybe something like that will happen and it would be great. I am not, of course, against organized planting, but the real power emerges when you do something on your own,” concluded Dimić, who will continue planting trees as long as he can.
Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Karmela Devčić).
