‘Good Morning Croatia’ HRT1 Interview

September 21, 2020

Travel Tales from the French Countryside.

January 21, 2021

Boranka Re-forestation Project in Split.

Published by Robyn Vulinovich at October 25, 2020

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BORANKA IS THE LARGEST EVER VOLUNTARY POST-FIRE REFORESTATION ORGANISED IN CROATIA. Enormous areas of forests are being destroyed in huge wildfires that are occurring frequently along the Croatian coast. Devastating firestorms are leaving behind wastelands with catastrophic consequences for the environment.

This weekend 24th and 25th October 2020, some of our group of Croatian Australians, NZers & Friends from USA, and Sri Lanka worked as volunteers alongside members of the Croatian Scouts Association in cooperation with Croatian Forestry, the Croatian Military and the Red Cross.

We were totally impressed by the sheer magnitude of the organisational skills of the Croatian Scouts Association! We arrived at the Suko?ijanska Bus Terminal to the welcome smiles of Edi Peri?, and his Lady Scout members, Lada and Silvija..we felt at home right away!

According to Dan ?picer, Chief Executive Officer of the Croatian Scouts, last year in 2019 a total of 4000 volunteers from all regions of Croatia descended on the Dalmatian Coast to assist with the reforestation project, however this year 2020, due to Covid 19 restrictions, the numbers would be much less. This weekend a total of 150 volunteers planted seedlings and seeds in the Mosor foothills above ?rnovica, an outer superb of Split and other weekends are being planned in November.

In the reforestation, Aleppo pine, will not be planted, but native species such as downy oak, black and maritime pine, stone pine, cypress and various species of bushes. will be planted. Given that the reforestation will take place in various areas, the forestry specialists will determine where exactly will each species are to be planted. We respect the forestry profession and look forward to the noble actions for nature.

Gloves, masks, transport, anti bacterial spray, a sandwich and bottled water were all made available to all volunteers..

We met so many wonderful people young and old, all with a passion to work together assisting the ecological environment to revive and regenerate! It was a pleasure to work beside you!

There was time to chat as we worked, and we learned a lot about those we worked alongside. We all agreed it was a really a great weekend and we’re looking forward to the next day of planting in the future.

Tanja Kezi? and Myself..taking a well-deserved break!

On the weekend of 14th and 15th November again we set out, a group of 20 volunteers from our Croatian Australians & NZers and American Friends. We also had local Croatians join us and one person from France!

Po prvi putu po?umljavanju opo?arenog podru?ja sudjelovala je i Marija Klisura ,Krajobazna arhitektica iz Zagreb.. “Super je i iznenadila sam se koliko je ljudi do?lo. Ve? dugo vremina pratim njihove aktivnosti po medijima, a ovaj put sam odlu?ila i sama sudjelovati . Dobro je ovo zanimacija za vikend. Boravak u prirodi , upoznavanje drugih ljudi , a usput napravi? ne?to dobro te zasadi? stablo. Ne mo?e bolje!”

Dan ?picer, glavni koordinator kampanje i poslovni direktor Saveza izvida?a Hrvatske , zahvalio na? grupa . “Sedam tisu?a voluntera je do sada iz cjele Hrvatske i inozemstva do?lo pru?iti ruku, ali i srce kako bi se barem dio ?uma koje je nestale u po?arima 2017 godine vratio. Uvijek nas veseli kad vidimo koliko je volontera i organizacija suddjelovalo te ?to imamo ovoliku podr?ku presjedinka Vlade, ?upanije i Grada. ‘BORANKA‘ zaista spaja cijelu Hrvatsku i to je ono ?to nas izrazito veseli i svaka pomo? i podr?ka je dobrodo?la da se ?ume vrate tamo gdje su nekada bile.

Linda from Split found a little black rabbit..!

The President of Croatia, Zoran Milanovi? arrived midway through our morning and thanked the volunteers for participating in this reforestation program. He was introduced to our group of Croatian Australians & New Zealanders and our American friends.

A leading member and great personality of the Croatian Scouts Association is the bubbly Lana ?tefak..always so vibrant and weicoming!

MEGHAN, A YOUNG AMERICAN WOMAN WHO LOST HER HOME IN THE CALIFORNIAN WILDFIRES ONLY 3 WEEKS AGO VOLUNTEERED HER HELP TOGETHER WITH HER PARTNER PHIL, PLANTING TREES ON MOSOR IN SPLIT!!!!!

“It was a pleasure helping out and I look forward to helping out again soon.After losing my house and vineyards 3 weeks ago to the devastating wildfires in Napa Valley, it was so nice to be able to help out and replant the trees and the forests above Split. Not only did this allow me to take my mind off of my tragic loss, it also felt really good to do something great for the local community and environment! I hope the scouts in Napa Valley will be able to do something similar in the future to replant the forests in Northern California. Thanks again for keeping me posted about these events, Meghan Lamb