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5
June being an official holiday in Colombia, the ceremony took
place this morning , 7 June, in the hills of Monserrate, one of
Bogota´s most visited places.
Organized
by UNIC, some 50 school children from the Tilatá College planted
275 native trees provided by the city´s Botanical Garden. ( Colombian
laws do not allow the planting of non-native seeds/trees ).
At
the beginning of the ceremony , which was covered by print media
and TV, the UNIC Director addressed the audience referring to
the importance of the Day and to the world-wide action of seed/trees
planting promoted by DPI and read out the Secretary-General´s
message for that occasion.
The
planting itself was carried out by the children accompanied by
workers of the Botanical Garden ( which, it should be highlighted,
are former street children -"gamines"- going through the final
phase of a re-socialization programme promoted by the Government).
Finalizing
the ceremony - and at the invitation of UNIC - the local UNICEF
Director and the Director of the Botanical Garden highlighted
the importance of the event in promoting environmental awareness
among children.
White
ribbons and identification sheets were handed out to the children
in order to identify and to " adopt" and in the future take care
of "their" trees.
It
should be noted that neighbors from the hills also participated
enthusiastically in the ceremony. ( I hereby wish to praise the
extraordinary work carried out by Ms. Liliana Garavito, UNIC Information
Assistant, in the organization of this beautiful, meaningful and
very sucessful event.)
Volker Petzoldt Director, UNIC Santafe de Bogota.
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