Students from Valley Nyiko serving traditional orchards

Written by civitas Wednesday, 23 November 2011 11:01

Civitas Foundation from Székelyudvarhely have been engaged in saving traditional fruits growing in Udvarhely Region, helping in this way the survival and viability of rural areas.

This year by the financial support of Environmental Partnership Foundation in cooperation with Apemin Tuşnad SA in the frame of the „Partnership for Environment” program, we implemented the project Rediscovering and shaping the environment. Partners in this project were: „Marosi Gergely” Elementary School Simonesti, „Benedek Fidél” Elementary School Biserican, „Tamási Áron” Elementary School Lupeni and the „Székelygyümölcs” Association.

The project aims to rediscover traditional orchards as a defining element of the environment and our culture. Because the Udvarhely region is very rich on traditional orchards which are threatened with extinction, in this project we wanted to reverse this trend in an innovative and sustainable way. We worked with schools from the Valley Nyikó to plant love and passion for fruit trees in the heart of children. The project activities were composed of several parts. In the first step we mapped traditional orchards. Children went from house to house and asked the help of local people. In these activities helped local experts, teachers, professors and members of „Székelygyümölcs” Association. We managed to put in the center of discussion the knowledge related to the local fruits and to revive the history of traditional nursery, where the elderly have accumulated knowledge and experience.

In October we prepared saplings for winter, and those who were dry due to drought have been replaced. This work was very important for children, which creating small groups have adopted trees and want to take care of them in the future.

Information’s gathered during the research were processed and thematized. The results were presented in the context of local and regional events (presentations, contests, performances) to raise awareness about the importance of conserving local biodiversity.

In this project, Civitas Foundation has organized several community meetings to discuss the role of traditional orchards in the development of the region.