ILISAPECI TUIVALE
Ten youth from the District of Cawa on the island of Koro received certificates of Plantation Establishment after a one-week training from the Ministry of Forestry as part of the Ministry’s 30-Million-Trees-in- 15-Years initiative.
Presenting the certificates to the youth, Ministry’s director operations for Central/Eastern Division,
George Vuki thanked the young men for their interest in learning the importance and basics
of tree planting and reminded them to share the knowledge that they have acquired to the rest of the villagers in Koro Island.
“Most times when the Hon. Minister for Forestry visits a village around the country, requests are made to him for tree planting trainings and consultations. You have been taught these skills and with that, we will not need to send our staff over to do these trainings in villages in Koro because you can conduct them on our behalf.
“Thank you for you keen interest in learning from us and we hope that you will share this knowledge to anyone who has an interest to learn from you,” Mr Vuki said.
Cawa District Youth group leader, Lote Mulo said that the training provided by the Ministry of Forestry will enable him and the rest of the youth to advocate the importance of afforestation and conserving our native trees.
“With this one week training and interning with the staff from the Ministry of Forestry, I am adamant that the youth have something greater to look forward to in terms of village duties. Normally you would see young men just tending to their yaqona and dalo plantation, but now, with this training we will be able to share the knowledge of what we have learnt about tree planting to other youth in the district, even if it means talking about it during a grog session and then later applying it out in the field.”
“Many do not know the importance of plants such as yasi, vesi and even mangroves, but with the information provided to us, we will strongly advocate for the protection of these trees for the sake of our environment and the future generation of Koro,” Mr Mulo stated.
The youth were chosen from the villages under the Tikini o Cawa in the island of Koro.