Monday, October 10, 2022
By Josephine Christopher, business reporter for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers
Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian members of the Ismaili Community have expressed their commitment to taking action against climate change, and have established a micro forest to spearhead the climate action movement.
Dozens of community members planted approximately 165 seeds and 200 tree saplings from 25 different tree species and shrubs at the Aga Khan Foundation Tanzania office yesterday in Dar es Salaam.
An Ismaili leader, Mr Hussein Somji, said the community understands the urgent need to take action against the impact of climate change which is now evident in Tanzania.
“These issues have escalated mainly due to human activities. We can vividly witness air pollution and changes in rainfall seasons, among others,” he said.
Mr Somji added that mini-forests were a hyper local response and solution to a large-scale environment challenge, adding that the initiative would be rolled out to other several locations.
Mr Mehboob Kassam said the initiative was also a way of giving back to the community.
“Because impacts of environmental challenges hit everyone in our society, this is one of the methods to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and thus reduce the speed of climate change,” he said.
The Aga Khan Foundation Tanzania through its flagship project Schools2030 is committed to balancing the greenhouse gas and carbon emissions.
From the Aga Khan Foundation-Canada office, Ms Getrude Omoro said the foundation was supporting the initiative as part of its ongoing commitment to carbon negative activities.
Ismailimail 