On November 27, 2020, in the frames of Keep Georgia Tidy Project, Georgian Society of Nature Explorers “Orchis” organized

A tree planting campaign in Kaspi Municipality. For this event, GSNE “Orchis” purchased 200 seedlings of Caucasian Pine and 70 seedlings of Georgian Almond from Georgian Seedlings Ltd.

These 270 seedlings of the native species were planted at several locations in Kaspi Municipality, specifically in the yards of: public school #1 and kindergarten #3 of Kaspi City; the public school, kindergarten and General Mazniashvili House Museum in Sasireti Village; the public school and Iv. Javakhishvili House Museum in Khovle Village; kindergartens and libraries of the villages of Aghaiani, Doesi, Tvaladi, Lamiskana and Metekhi; the musical school of Kavtiskhevi Village; the public school of the villages of Tsinarekhi and Zemo Khandaki as well as in the square named after the Tariel Sharipashvili, a colonel killed in the war in Abkhazia.

The Mayor of Kaspi Mr. Vakhtang Maisuradze, the First Deputy Mayor Mr. Tamaz Tatanashvili, the Chairperson of the Sakrebulo Mr. Davit Leonidze, representative of the Public Relations Service Mrs. Dali Korkomashvili, other representatives of the Municipality City Hall, directors, teachers and students of the school and pre-school institutions as well as the population of Kaspi municipality villages including IDPs actively participated together with the GSNE “Orchis in the tree planting campaigns” organized in Kaspi Municipality.

All rules and restrictions, including the maintenance of social distancing and other limiting measures established by the Government of Georgia due to the pandemic were fully considered during the tree planting campaigns.

In general, the greenery planting campaigns that have been carried out in the frames of the Keep Georgia Tidy Project to restore vegetation, forests and habitats facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs cover wide range of issues and address interrelated elements of the sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. In this context, the measures for the protection, conservation, prevention of degradation and restoration of biodiversity are essential components of the sustainable development and accomplishment of the SDGs, which could be mainly achieved through the maintenance of diverse and key ecosystem services offered by the biodiversity.

Generally, biorestoration and tree planting activities are one of the most effective instruments for the reduction of climate change. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, one of the major climate change contributors, and thus diminish its concentration in the atmosphere and respectively the rate of climate change. That’s why all over the world environmentalists (and not only) pay particular attention to the restoration of forests in terms of combating climate change, and that’s why the tree planting and reforestation / afforestation activates can bring particular benefits.

Keep Georgia Tidy Project is being implemented by the NGO Consortium: Georgian Society of Nature Explorers “Orchis”, Keep Georgia Tidy and Greens Movement of Georgia/Friends of the Earth Georgia through funding of the Government of Sweden, with support of Georgian Ministries of Environmental Protection & Agriculture, Regional Development & Infrastructure, Economy & Sustainable Development, and Education, Science, Culture & Sport, and in cooperation with the Solid Waste Management Company of Georgia and Environmental information & Education Centre.