April 13, 2022 - The employees of the US Embassy joined forces with scouts and foresters, as well as the Croatian MEP Karlo Ressler, to plant a thousand new oak seedlings in the Marča forest near Kloštar Ivanić as part of the Šumoborci Afforestation Program.

As 24Sata writes, the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of US-Croatian diplomatic relations, which is being marked this year, was an excellent opportunity for employees and officials of the US Embassy to join the afforestation campaign as part of the largest Croatian volunteer afforestation program symbolically called Šumoborci (Forest Fighters), under the media sponsorship of 24Sata. This Tuesday, the representatives of the Embassy joined forces with the organizers of the program – the Scout Association of Croatia, Hrvatske Šume (Forests of Croatia), and the HEARTH agency, and planted 1,000 new pedunculate oak seedlings in the Marča forest near Kloštar Ivanić. The afforestation campaign was joined by the Croatian Member of the European Parliament Karlo Ressler, who helped plant oak seedlings with his team.

This was the last afforestation action in the Šumoborci program for this spring period, which included 1,500 volunteers since the beginning of March, who planted 30,000 new seedlings in 17 actions. Planting campaigns will continue in the autumn when the conditions for planting become favourable again, and the plan is to plant an additional 50,000 seedlings throughout Croatia.

Roman Avdagić (Savez izviđača Hrvatske).

The Šumoborci program is an educational part of the CO2MPENSATING BY PLANTING project (www.compensatingbyplanting.com) which enables companies, institutions, and all those interested to compensate for their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by planting trees. The project is organized by the Scout Association of Croatia, Hrvatske Šume, and the HEARTH agency as an innovative response to the burning issue of climate change. In addition to afforestation actions, the project also includes interesting interactive workshops in schools whose students can participate in afforestation actions so that they can use the acquired theoretical knowledge in practice.

At the beginning of the action, the organisers said that they were extremely pleased that since the beginning of the project in November last year, more than 3,000 Šumoborac volunteers have been involved in afforestation actions, planting more than 55,000 new seedlings in 34 actions to date. Most of the volunteers are students and scouts, but also other citizens and representatives of partners who help afforestation this way.

"We are extremely grateful to the US Government and the Embassy for their support of this project. We look forward to future activities in cooperation with the US Embassy, which will include the creation of a digital green educational platform Greenscreen. hr to be presented in May, as well as the arrival of several prominent American experts and climatologists who will participate in educational activities for young people in Croatia. We feel proud that even the US Secretary of State, Mr. Anthony Blinken, in his introductory address to the US-Croatia forum last week cited this project and cooperation as one of the outstanding examples of good practice and good relations between the US and Croatia” - pointed out Dan Špicer, business director of the Scout Association of Croatia.

The participants were specially greeted by the representative of the US Embassy, Ms. Elise Crane, who thanked the organizers for their efforts and said that the US especially supports such programs that provide a greener future for young people, but also help educate young people about the effects of climate change.

Mr. Krešimir Žagar, Director of the Forestry Department of Hrvatske Šume, thanked all volunteers who have so far, with the help of Hrvatske Šume, participated in afforestation campaigns and stated that they plant more than 9 million new seedlings annually, but that each volunteer contribution is extremely important and desirable because in this way, in addition to helping to restore forests, we also raise awareness of the importance of forests, environmental protection, and the effects of climate change on forests and nature. Žagar also stated that Hrvatske Šume will continue to support such commendable projects.

Igor Mladinović, director of HEARTH, said that it is great that the creative industry can get involved in such non-profit campaigns with their creative solutions to help the environment, society, and community.

At the end of the address, just before rolling up their sleeves to plant some seedlings, the organisers announced that they are starting new educational actions in primary and secondary schools, as well as new afforestation actions throughout Croatia to include thousands of new Šumoborci, come autumn.

The CO2MPENSATING BY PLANTING project is sponsored by the US Embassy, the European Parliament in Croatia, the European Commission Representation in Croatia, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, while the main media sponsors are 24Sata, Večernji List, and Go2Digital.

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The praiseworthy national action involving collective tree planting has been joined by the beautiful Istrian city of Poreč.

As Morski writes on the 18th of October, 2019, through Facebook, thanks to the opening of the group ''Days of Collective Tree Planting in Croatia on the 25th, 26th and 27th of October 2019'' an action has been launched and joined by some 15,000 people in just a few days, and that number is now much higher and a large number of Croatian cities have officially joined the action along with individuals.

''Our story started with fellow citizen Daniela Božić contacting me and the city with a letter of intent for this action, and so we immediately joined. Every year in Poreč we have regular activities of maintaining and enriching our 'green fund' in the spring and autumn, and this action will be an opportunity to further refine the city's oases and raise awareness of the need for nature conservation and protection.

It's important for us to take care of our green spaces and this is something that Poreč is famous for, especially since some trees have been damaged during bad weather, or because of their deterioration or even for practical reasons, meaning that they needed to be removed. But for each tree that was cut down, more were planted,'' said the Mayor of Poreč, Loris Peršurić, adding that the city, through its spatial and general urban plan, takes care of the balance of green and construction areas, and that in public areas have more of forty percent of such greenery.

The head of the Administrative Department for the municipal system, Marino Poropat, explained that the collective tree planting action in Poreč will be divided into two parts: the first part begins this Saturday, when the local committees start planting trees.

Representatives of the utilities department, along with representatives of local boards, visited various areas and suggested the types of trees and possible new planting locations, such as places where trees were recently damaged by storms, and in children's playgrounds. Native trees will be planted first, as they are the most likely to do well and thrive, and and some local committees have opted for lesser-known and less common species.

''The second part of the action will take place on Friday October the 25th starting at 09:00 in Poreč's big car park. Then, over 300 seedlings of indigenous trees that will be planted will be distributed free of charge to all interested citizens,'' Poropat said, adding that funds for this action were reserved from the city budget.

The mayor of Poreč has called on all Poreč's residents to join this praiseworthy action and plant over 500 trees.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more. If you're interested in how Croatia works to protect its environment both officially and unofficially, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.

The importance of being more environmentally aware is paramount, and the more we hear, read and begin to understand about what we as humans can do to help our surrounding environment, the more we can give back not only to the Earth but to future generations. Planting trees is just one simple but effective way for anyone and everyone in Croatia (or indeed wherever else) to do their bit.

As Morski/Lucija Radulj writes on the 6th of October, 2019, the praiseworthy citizens initiative "Collective Tree Planting Days in Croatia" (Dani kolektivne sadnje drveća u Hrvatskoj) which is set to take place from the 25th to the 27th of October, 2019, organises a collective tree planting mission called "Plant a tree, don't be a stump" (Zasadi drvo, ne budi panj).

The action seeks to encourage citizens, associations, businesses and institutions to plant as many trees as possible in private and public areas across the Republic of Croatia in three days to contribute to being more green, taking better care of the environment and highlight the importance and many benefits of having as many trees and as much greenery as possible, especially in cities and in other urban areas.

The importance of this action was also recognised by the Mljet National Park Public Institution (NP Mljet) on the gorgeous emerald island of Mljet in southern Croatia, which will donate fity olive and carob seedlings to schools and kindergartens in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southern Dalmatia.

The first seedlings will be given to schools and kindergartens in the area(s) of ​​Ploče, Staševica, Komin and the country's southernmost municipality - Konavle. In addition to donating seedlings, Mljet National Park will also give lectures to students on the topic of olive and carob trees, and try to better explain their absolutely vital role in the lives of southern Croatia's residents and the importance of forest conservation.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If you're interested in both official and unofficial ways Croatia aims to take care of its environment, give Total Eco Croatia a follow.