IN a bid to curb erosion of river banks, representatives from the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and Development planted trees along the Vitogo river bank on Saturday to mark World Earth Day.
The initiative is part of FRIEND’s Be Cool – Cool the Earth launched by EU’s ambassador to the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs.
FRIEND founder Sashi Kiran said they have had longstanding projects with the people of Vitogo with youths raising concerns on the consistent erosion of the river banks.
Ms Kiran said they hoped to continue the project in five other villages in the Vitogo District
“All of us are talking about how hot we feel and how things have changed for us, so we have used this project as a means to take responsibility and work towards leaving our environment in a better state for the future,” she said.
She added there was a need for people to be aware that littering had detrimental effects on the environment.
“We all need to take responsibility. There are a lot of things around us that contribute to climate change like burning rubbish and throwing rubbish. This is not good for the earth.
“We will be launching a few other initiatives as part of the project to ensure we continue to work towards a more sustainable environment.”
Ms Kiran said there was no definite timeline to whenthe project would end.
“This will continue for a number of years until we know we’ve left the communities in a better state then before.”
