By Lodu William Odiya
In a bold move to restore degraded lands and boost smart climate resilience, tree-planting initiative aimed at countering climate change and its devastating effects was launched in Rubkona County in Unity state.
The initiative led by Save the Children in collaboration with Tearfund and coalition for Humanity aims at improving resilience in the area.
Speaking during the planting at Denggak Primary school, Simon Khamis James Yambala, Coalition for Humanity Food Security and Livelihood Field Manager stressed that Rubkona has experienced increasing environmental challenges in recent years, including flooding, soil degradation, and rising temperatures.
“When we look at Rubkona, it is prone to flooding, where all the trees are submerged in water and all the trees have dried out. In the next maybe 10 years to come, this place will all be a total desert, where at the end of the day, the effect of climate change will be very dangerous on the environment where we are living in” he said.
The campaign is part of a broader national effort by the South Sudan government, which launched a ten-year plan to plant 100 million trees to restore ecosystems and mitigate climate change.
In Rubkona, communities have been grappling with repeated flooding, erosion, vegetation loss, and disrupted livelihoods.
Khamis underscored planting fruit, eucalyptus and Brazil (umbrella) tree could help curve the situation in the area.
“Eucalyptus is one of the willow trees where it can withhold what we call flooding. This place which is waterlogged can even drain that water. Like after two to three years to come, this place here will be dried from this kind of tree” he said.
He further emphasized that they were trying to plant resistant tree species where it can also help the environment.
“The advantage of planting trees here is to reduce the effect of climate change. When we plant trees in our area, it protects you from the effect of climate change in terms of oxygen, the carbon dioxide, shade, firewood and can also be used as poles for building”.
He urged the school administration to maintain the tree by fencing and watering daily during this dry season.
“Under the school administration, you must fence the tree because we know at the end of the day, goats will destroy the seedlings that we have planted” he said.
“We are not looking just now; we are looking for sustainability for tomorrow. I’m encouraging you to take it seriously to ensure that we improve, you know, the livelihood of our community in Rubkona” Khamis added.
According to Khamis, one thousand seedlings was secure from the nursery bed for the community to plant.
“We have already 1000 seedlings, any person who want should come and register then we shall go and pick whatever species he or she wants” he said.
Peter Gatkuoth, a teacher at Dengak primary school appreciated the initiative stating planting the trees was not just an activity but it is an investment for the children’s future.
“We will teach the students every maintain the plants. The seed they put in the ground helps protect our community from the impacts of climate change” he said.
Rubkona County (Unity State, South Sudan) is complex and involves a mix of humanitarian, security, and development challenges including flooding.