PHOTOS: Hundreds of volunteers plant trees to reforest fire-damaged Žrnovnica

Volunteers plant trees in first Boranka action of the year

5 October 2019 – Over 400 volunteers from various parts of Croatia gathered at Žrnovnica in Split on Saturday to help reforest areas damaged by catastrophic fires in 2017. 

This weekend was the first action of the season in the Boranka campaign which aims to reforest areas in Dalmatia damaged by fires. Boranka will take place on Sunday also at Žrnovnica with an extra 200 volunteers set to arrive to help. 

Over in 600 volunteers in total will take part in the reforestation action over the weekend, arriving from Split, Omis, Sisak, Novska and various parts of Slavonia. Joining the volunteers in the action were workers from Raiffeisen bank and L’Occitane. 

The volunteers were provided with seedlings by Croatian Forests, co-organizers of the Boranka campaign, with only native species, mixed deciduous plants and conifers being planted. This weekend pine, seaside and black pine, cypress and acacia seedlings are being planted.

“We want to plant the forest wherever the forest was before the fire. Boranka is a great campaign that helps us very much in achieving this goal,” said Ante Taraš, Split Forestry Manager.

Organisers of the Boranka campaign is the Scouts Croatia and over the next six weeks 4,000 volunteers will take part in reforestation actions in Split, Solin and Zadar. 

“We have fun and are doing something useful for nature, but we also leave something for generations behind us. Even more important than the afforestation itself, is the education of children and young people, many of them for the first time will plant their own trees. It is no accident when they say that whoever plants his own tree will also take better care of nature,”said Dan Špicer, Business Director of the Scouts Croatia and Chief Coordinator of the Boran Campaign.  

For many young volunteers, this was a special experience.

“Planting the seedlings at Boranka I felt useful and realized that I was really doing something right. There were a lot of rocks in the ground, which we are not used to in Osijek, so it was quite difficult for us, but it also motivated us. We want to bring the forests back to Žrnovnica because we heard that everything was green here before the fire,” Petra Hasenauer, a 15-year-old Scout from Osijek, told us.  

At all Boranka actions, assistance is at hand to volunteers from Croatian Forest experts, Red Cross volunteers, HGSS, firefighters and the Civil Protection Directorate, and the City of Split and Split-Dalmatia County have provided assistance to the campaign.

Next weekend 1,000 volunteers will head to Kučine in Solin to continue afforestation. If you would like to join the action you can register at: [email protected]