A whole movement formed last summer when Bojár expressed his despair about the climate in two online posts. He urged everyone in Hungary to start planting ten million trees, a call that quickly reached 500,000 people, and has since engaged 35,000. The long-term goal is to have one tree planted for every citizen in Hungary.
The movement is run by local communities, around 125 of them spread across the country. In the past six months, they have planted trees in 300 different locations with the help of 5-6,000 civilians as well as foresters, gardeners and ecologists. In 2019, around 15,000 saplings have been bedded: 13,305 trees and 2,519 shrubs to be exact. According to Bojár, this means that they have covered 16 hectares, an area the size of the southern corner of Margaret Island.
They are planning to surpass this achievement in 2020 by planting 150,000 trees, and creating ecological community forests with a mixed composition of indigenous species, in empty spaces near inhabited areas. Bojár explains that this will make up 175 hectares of woodland, equal to the size of two Margaret Islands. If the goal of ten million is achieved, it will comprise 118 Margaret Islands’ worth of greenery.
In Budapest, the project has actively reached 12 districts in the past half-year. The most trees (172) are dotted around District III, while District IV has seen the most shrubs (2,280). In terms of the whole city, thanks to the movement there are 671 more trees and 3,195 more shrubs altogether, mainly in public spaces, schools, nurseries, as well as in some private gardens. After a round-table discussion this week, Budapest’s new head gardener Sándor Baróczi announced that the capital will be providing territory for more planting, supported by private financial backing and co-operation by the State.
At the same time, the 10 Million Trees Movement has made it to the list of the nominees of HighLights of Hungary. They are also collaborating with GreeHill, a startup dealing with optimising city greenery. The group has created an app for people to follow the project’s development on an online map. It’s easy to use: take a picture of the sapling, describe its features, the date it was planted, and it goes into the system. The map shows 463 so far, the database continuously updated by volunteers.
Bedding resumes this spring, but preparations are already under way. Local communities can be found on Facebook, and anyone can join to be up to date on future activities.
