DR Congo: Children involved in reforestation activities in their communities on World Environment Day
By Didier Nagifi, Communications Officer
On Wednesday 5 June 2024, World Vision DRC celebrated World Environment Day in the commune of Kimbanseke, the Ngandu programme area in the city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A workshop and awareness-raising session for state and non-state partners on ‘soil restoration, desertification and resilience in the face of drought’ was held on the sidelines of the event.
The workshop and awareness-raising session aimed to make partners and community members aware of the importance of promoting ongoing exchanges to launch regreening activities in their communities.
During the workshop, Bruno Kitiaka, the livelihoods and food security project specialist from the national office, spoke about a theme directly linked to the lives of households working in the agricultural sector.
"We are contributing to the fight against climate change and putting in place measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change. At World Vision, we have developed the initiative to train and raise awareness among farmers so that they can adopt good practices in the exercise of their profession, which must respect the environment and not harm it, to maintain a sustainable income", explains Bruno KITIAKA, WV DRC Livelihoods Specialist.
After the workshop and the session, the participants, including children, formed a discussion group where they shared their experiences of good and bad environmental management practices in their respective communities.
"Our community of Ngandu has experienced many problems linked to erosion, flooding, silting, and soil impoverishment due to our bad practices. But today's awareness-raising has enabled us to resolve to help our community through good environmental management practices", said Jonas, a member of the community.
World Vision has distributed empty bags that will be filled with sand to create dykes to prevent rainwater from causing erosion.
Dozens of children planted trees in the commune of Kimbanseke, as a way of anticipating measures to combat the effects of climate change. In addition to state and non-state partners, the pupils learned about good practice in environmental management and planted a few trees during the activity.
“Today is World Environment Day, and protecting our environment means preserving our future”, said Valérie, a pupil, as she planted the tree.
World Vision and its partners are determined to continue their efforts in favour of the environment and to encourage citizens' initiatives to preserve the future.