National Climate Change Awareness Week Begins at Vava’u ^Featured

The awareness week began with field visits to local communities, dialogues with the local villagers and planting of fruit trees and ornamental plants at various sites in the villages of Tefisi, Feletoa and ‘Utulei.

The community members of Tefisi together with their town officer Olafehi Fainu conducted their tree planting at the Free Wesleyan Church Hall. A total of seventeen plants were provided to the Tefisi community for this tree planting activity, through a partnership between the MEIDECC and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (MAFF).

We are supporting local communities to plant more trees to act as sinks or to remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere but also for adaptation purposes such as coastal protection. Additionally, the trees can serve the local communities with plant products for food, medicinal, cultural and other purposes.

Part of the awareness activities will also include a meeting with government line ministries, private sectors, NGOs as well as local district and town officers to raise awareness on the Green Climate Fund Tonga Country Programme facilitated by officers of the GCF Tonga Readiness & Preparatory Support Programme management unit under the Department of Climate Change.

A team of five officers from the Department of Climate Change in Nuku’alofa is in Vava’u to conduct the awareness activities, in partnership with staff at MEIDECC Vava’u, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (MAFF), Waste Authority Limited (WAL), town and district officers through the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Similar awareness activities are planned for tomorrow, for local high schools and primary schools throughout Vava’u.

- MEIDECC