Trees to transform battle fields in Chimbu

BATLLE fields in Dom, Gumine, Chimbu, left covered with grass following consistent burning because of tribal fights and dubbed ‘Dom grass’ will now be one of the first spots for tree-planting and renamed to ‘Dom trees’.
The tree-planting is the initiative of the Conservation Environment Protection Authority (Cepa) and Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) under the Department of Environment, Conversation and Climate Change driven by Minister Wera Mori to contribute towards the global fight against climate change.
Chimbu-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Simbu Botany Club has been engaged by the department to roll out the tree-planting project and identified the Dom area as the first target for the exercise.
Simbu Botany Club executive director Eric Sinebare said Dom had earned the nickname Dom grass, because of tribal fights which had left the area underdeveloped.
“Under the tree-planting concept, as Mori stated one of the priorities would be to convert the area from being Dom grass to Dom trees, we embarked converting the grass to trees,” he said.
“We are now in the process of distributing 50,000 tree seedlings as starting capital.” Sinebare said the entire Dom tribes of Degine LLG, namely Gorku, Kopan, Nonku, Kurbi, Nonnku, Kumaikane and Naur were united to accept the project and welcomed Mori who went to Kelamaule village for the planting ceremony on Friday.