Greening South Sudan to plant 5 million trees in 10 years

By Awan Achiek

Greening South Sudan, an environment advocacy group intends to plant five million trees in the next ten years to ease the effects of climate change in the country.

Garang Maguet Garang, founder of Greening South Sudan said in an interview on Wednesday that they are targeting schools, homes, churches, mosques and institutions.

“We plan to plant 10 million trees from 2021 to 2031 and especially fruits trees will start fruiting after five years, and you will start earning money from your fruits trees after five years,” Maguet said.

 Maguet said they have already planted 500 different types of trees including compound trees and aromatase in the last three years.

“We have been planting trees in schools, churches, mosques and so far we have planted 500 trees of different types ranging from compound fruits and aromatase,” he said.

He said planting trees will transform the country into a green economy.

“What I want to achieve is for us to have a green growth economy, the trees we are planting can also contribute to the economic growth of this country,” Maguet said.

He disclosed that tree planting will also help in mitigating climate change, adding that trees provide microclimate which is conducive for learning both at home and in schools.

“We also involve research because there are some places where we water the trees once a week but they are now doing well,” Maguet disclosed.

Maguet urged the public to keep the environment clean and green, as well as protect it from illegal loggers.

He said planting trees remains a major challenge in the country due to high cost of seedlings.

“Our work is slow because seeding is very expensive, one seedling now costs 10,000 SSP and there is high cost of fencing to protecting it from animals and other intruders,” Maguet said.

Maguet acknowledged that he is planting trees during the dry season, adding that most of the trees are doing well.

He encouraged the youth to join hands with him in the fight to mitigate climate change effects, saying  planting trees can create job opportunities for them. 

“My message to youth is that you join me, planting trees is not just for the environment but is also a source of income, if you sell seedlings you will earn income and you can’t burden people working in the government, now I earn a living just by planting trees,” Maguet said.

Greening South Sudan is a local NGO established in 2021, which advocates for tree planting and proper use of the environment to mitigate climate change.