TANZANIANS have been urged to mark special days such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries by planting trees to protect the environment.

 Prof Aidan Msafiri, an environmentalist and academician said here at the weekend that lavish parties to celebrate special days end after the last bite of a meal or a sip of drink but trees remain for many years to come.

Prof Msafiri is chief executive officer of Kilimanjaro Consortium for Development and Environment (KCDE) which plants a total of 1 million trees annually in Kilimanjaro Region to promote environmental conservation.

He made the remarks during tree planting at Mawenzi High School in Moshi Municipality. KCDE teamed up with other development stakeholders in the region to restore vegetation cover in the area.

“Each person should plant trees during their special days. For example; one can plant 50 trees to celebrate their 50th birthday. Doing so will make our world green,” he said.

Prof Msafiri who is also the UN Climate Change Ambassador for Tanzania said it is important for Tanzanians to be reminded about the importance of environmental protection and conservation for sustainability.

He stressed the importance of afforestation, arguing that trees are the lungs of the world.

He said that they created environmental and development awareness to the public in schools, mosques and churches this year and they will continue to do so.

KCDE also provided seminars on the importance of environmental protection and conservation and ethics to school pupils to mark 60 years of the union.

The tree planting event was graced by representative from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania-Northern Diocese Jeremiah Chaki.

Chaki spoke of the importance of advocating for the use of environmentally-friendly cooking energy instead of charcoal and firewood, particularly in public institutions for sustainable environmental protection and conservation.

“We have introduced a new project of using modern electric cooking stoves from Norway that use little electricity power for our customers and the general public so as to protect and conserve the environment,” he said.

James Mtui, headmaster of Mawenzi High School applauded the role played by KCDE in collaboration with other development stakeholders in environmental protection and conservation at one of the oldest schools in Tanzania which was established in 1956.