By Anyway Yotamu
Converged state-owned mobile telecommunications giant, NetOne has partnered with City of Harare, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Environmental Management Agency, Forestry Commission, Caps United Football Club and NADIPE Trust among other stakeholders in a clean-up campaign at Sally Mugabe Hospital formerly Harare Hospital.
The stakeholders also joined hands in remembering one of the days that the Environmental Management Agency customarily commemorates together with its sister parastatal the Forestry Commission which also falls under the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate. The National Tree Planting Day is observed during the first Saturday of December of every year.
The day was put aside by the former President Robert Mugabe at Independence in 1980. The tree planting season starts at the onset of the rains and runs until the end of the season.
The purpose of this day has been to motivate the nation to plant, care for, and conserve trees, as a way of ensuring sustainability in the management and utilisation of our forest resources.
Dr Eldrette Shereni who is the Communications Executive at NetOne said her organisation had seen it imperative to conduct a clean-up campaign as a way of giving back to the community. She highlighted that tree planting was critical for the enhancement of biodiversity and household food security.
“Trees are a major front in the fight against climate change and its effects due to their unparalleled capacity to absorb and store carbon. Sustainable forest management is also a key part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 15: Life on Land,” she said.
For the past years, NetOne has been spearheading various programmes across the country in as much as helping the communities is concerned as the organisation seeks to ensure that no one is left behind. Executed community based programmes the company has spearheaded in line with its the social corporate responsibility initiatives include free breast cancer screening, and donating to home based care institutions, among others.