Tree Planting, A Process Not An Event

Masvingo Region National Movement of Catholic Students (NMCS) were prompted that tree
planting day should not be an event but rather a process which encompasses follow-ups on trees
planted with the purpose of motivating the nation to plant, care for, and conserve trees, as a way
ensuring sustainability in the management and utilization of our forest resources.

Addressing the academics Masvingo Regional Chaplin Rev Fr Raymond Mahefu indicated that
there is a need for the trees planted on the 30th of November 2019 at Alfred Walter Hostels –
Mucheke in commemoration of the 2019 National Tree Planting Day to be an investment.

“Over the years we have participated in tree planting days, and few of us have made follow-ups
on the planted trees to see if they growing and nurturing well, which means it becomes duty’s
sake rather than attaining the desired benefits for the community,” said Chaplin Fr Mahefu.

The first Saturday of December each year is National Tree-Planting Day, as the day was declared
in 1980 and has become an important part of Zimbabwe’s calendar on which the tree planting
the season is officially launched whilst the season starts at the onset of the rains and runs until the end of the season.

A single tree can host many hundreds of species of fungi, moss, insects, plants, and mammals,
whilst trees reduce the temperature by absorbing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen back into the atmosphere.

Rainwater is also captured by trees and reduces the risk of a natural disaster like flooding and
landslides as their root system filters removing pollutants and secure a timely absorption into
the ground.

Several key medicines and nurturing products are also from trees not only being limited to
grasses and herbs.

by Tatenda Mqetu