Planting Seeds for the Future

Last week, we held an outreach event at a local primary school. Here’s a dispatch about the event from our office manager Merishi.

The event was a follow up of the previous meeting that was held during the World Lion Day. During the first meeting, Lion Guardians and the participants agreed to participate in a tree planting exercise at Naorr Enkare primary school. Therefore, tree planting was the main agenda for the Thursday meeting, which close to eighty youth (both educated and uneducated) attended. The school head teacher, two community teachers and two elders (including one community representative) also attended the event. Our two Guardians (from Inchakita) and one Lion Guardians visitor were also in attendance.

The Lion Guardians official, the head teacher and two elders gave speeches in regard to conservation, education and tree planting. On the topic of conservation, the Lion Guardians official encouraged the youth to be advocates for conservation of lions and other wildlife. He explained that an increase in the population of lions and other wild animals will ultimately translate to a lot of benefits to the communities living with them. The elders thanked Lion Guardians organization for employing several members of the community. They also thanked the organization for helping the community in various ways – such as taking patients to hospital, contributing in school fundraising, ferrying injured or dead livestock home, as well as searching for lost livestock and boma reinforcements by Guardians etc. In relation to the topic of education, the Lion Guardians official encouraged the school-going youth to work diligently in school. He added that by doing well in academics, they will then become great professionals and leaders in future and will be able to help their families and communities.

For the tree planting exercise, the audience was given clear information about the seedballs. They were notified that the seeds are rolled inside charcoal dust and this helps to protect them from any damage. Once it rains, the rain washes away the charcoal dust and the seeds then germinate. They were notified that not all the seeds will germinate, but hopefully a substantial percentage will grow.

The seed balls were then thrown around the school compound. The seeds were Acacia tortilis, which is the most common natural tree in the area. They were donated by His Holiness Syedna Aaliqadr Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS), through a company called Adamji. The teachers present, elders, primary school pupils and the rest of the youth present in the meeting, promised to take ownership and monitor progress of the seeds. This will act as a pilot project as Lion Guardians prepare to roll out tree planting activities across its areas of operation, namely Olgulului, Eselenkei and Imbirikani group ranches.