For several years in a row, the YMCA supports the “Green Bair” initiative, which is trying to realize the idea of reforesting parts of the area called Bair in Bitola. It is an area consisting of bare hills that suffered from the fire a few years ago in this part of the city. This is the fourth such action in a row and this time 200 evergreen seedlings of black pine were planted. In the past three years, more than 400 evergreen seedlings were planted in this area, some of which have been successfully adapted and are already greening the area. Several associations of citizens and some companies support this initiative, which we hope will continue to happen in the future.

More information on the activities and photo galleries is available here и here.

In addition to this, in the second half of October 2022, the team of the ZEMI ZDIV platform, where the YMCA is a part, started the preparation for the implementation of the environmental action “1000 forests from 1 acorn” which aims to raise environmental awareness among children and adults about the importance of trees in the process of environmental protection.

The action consisted of collecting healthy oak acorns that were distributed to children from primary education with the aim of planting them at home, growing the trees and transplanting them to a permanent location. With this action, we want to interest them in their active involvement in the process of planting new trees, and to motivate them to continue with such healthy habits in the future. The goal is for each child to have their own oak tree that they will grow and later plant in a specific location. This year, this action as a pilot project was organized in three elementary schools in Bitola (OU St. Kliment Ohridski, in OU Dame Gruev and OU Goce Delchev) within the framework of complementing the teaching of natural sciences.

You can see more pictures and video of the action at the following link and video.