More than 70 schools, groups sign up for Treelympics

Schools here in St Vincent and the Grenadines are doing their part to conserve the environment with the help of the Richmond Vale Academy (RVA).{{more}}

Facilitator at RVA Selwin Patterson told SEARCHLIGHT the schools have signed on to be part of the Treelympics games.

In an interview on May 16, Patterson explained that Treelympics is a worldwide competition which was introduced by the United Nations in 2012, with the objective being to plant 100 million trees before the year 2017.

“The Ministry of Health is spearheading this action, but they asked Richmond Vale Academy if they can assist them in registering schools,” Patterson said.

By May 14, the RVA had registered more than 70 schools and community groups in St Vincent and the Grenadines for the first Treelympics, which has participation of more than 100 other countries in the world.

Registration of schools and community groups closed yesterday, May 22, 2014 and all trees must be planted by October 24, 2014, when judging will take place.

“Each school that is registered will do the work, take photographs and upload them to Treelympics website. The winners will travel to Finland to the award ceremony on November 20,” Patterson stated.

Each individual who participates will be awarded with a certificate.

Patterson also stated that the Ministry of Health will do the judging to see which school planted the most trees.

He explained that RVA is a non-governmental organisation that raises funds on its own.

“They have a farm, hiking centre and they have a programme where people come and study. They have the climate compliance programme… There are people who come to study about the climate, organic farm, sustainablity and composting,” he said.

Patterson said the aim of the RVA is to make St Vincent and the Grenadines the first climate compliance country in the world.

He said the RVA is not yet a registered educational institution, but they were invited to a meeting last year with the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to discuss matters.

“We attended the meeting and presented what we have to offer, but until now we haven’t heard anything…,” he added.

Student Wendy Francois said that in registering schools for the Treelympics programmes, RVA also teaches students about the importance of taking care of the environment.

“This is to get students more aware about the benefits of planting trees, the benefits, biodiversity on a whole and being a bit more aware of the changes in the climate,” she said. (KW)