Kalkrand forges green history first

By Kaundjire Humbu

Kalkrand has become the first village council in the country to benefit from the ministry of environment, forestry and tourism’s national tree planting programme, marking a historic milestone ahead of this year’s National Arbor Day.

The ministry recently donated 100 trees to the Kalkrand Village Council, a gesture that officials say signals a new chapter where village councils and smaller local authorities are placed at the centre of Namibia’s restoration agenda.

Handing over the trees, forestry Director Johnson Ndokosho said the Ministry deliberately chose Kalkrand as the first village council to receive trees under the current programme because of its readiness and visible commitment to care for them.

“Kalkrand is the first village council to receive trees from the ministry. This is history in the making,” Ndokosho said. “We chose you because you are ready. But planting is the easy part. Taking care of these trees until they mature is the real work.”

He urged the council and the community to treat the trees as a community asset and to ensure they survive beyond the planting day.

“The value of a tree is understood best in a dry country like ours,” he said. “But planting alone is not enough. We must water, protect and take care of these trees until they mature. We are handing them to you as a community asset.”

The handover ceremony, held at the village council grounds, was attended by village councillors, community members, school representatives and Ministry officials.

The event ended with a community planting exercise, with most of the donated trees planted at various locations across Kalkrand, including public open spaces, around council facilities and along community access routes.

According to Ndokosho, the donation forms part of the ministry’s broader drive towards the national target of planting and maintaining one million trees by 2030, and two million trees by 2035, as outlined in the proposed draft National Strategy on Tree Planting 2026-2035.

He explained that the ministry is working to strengthen government nurseries and partner with community and private nurseries to improve seedling supply across all 14 regions, to ensure that every local authority, no matter how small, can participate.

“What matters is not how many seedlings we hand over, but how many survive. Success will be measured by survival, by shade created, by soil held, by food and fodder provided, and by livelihoods supported,” Ndokosho stressed.

Beyond the handover, ministry officials used the platform to educate the community on proper planting techniques, including site selection, depth of holes, watering schedules, mulching and protection from livestock.

They emphasized that the first three years are critical for survival, especially in the arid Hardap Region.

Officials also highlighted the symbolic and ecological relationship between trees and wildlife, explaining that trees provide shelter, food and breeding sites for birds, insects and other wildlife, while wildlife in turn supports pollination and seed dispersal.

Protecting trees, they said, is protecting the entire ecosystem.

Village councillors thanked the ministry for the honour and pledged to put a clear aftercare plan in place.

The council said it will assign teams for watering and monitoring and will work closely with schools, youth groups and community members to ensure the trees are protected from damage and neglect.

For many residents who attended, the planting was more than symbolic.

In a settlement where shade is scarce and temperatures soar, the 100 trees represent future shade, wind protection and greener public spaces.

The donation to Kalkrand formed part of a series of activities leading up to the main National Arbor Day commemoration that took, which will be officiated by the minister of environment, forestry and tourism, Indileni Daniel, under the theme “Towards 1 million trees by 2030: Plant today, Breathe tomorrow.”

The ministry confirmed that similar donations are being rolled out to other local authorities in the coming weeks as the country builds momentum towards its ambitious tree planting targets.

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