24,000 Trees Planted!
On Sunday, November 2, 2014, the ODTÜ community, along with the local volunteer groups, planted 24,000 seedlings at the Lake Eymir area. This was part of the traditional Lake Eymir Tree Planting Festival, which led to the creation of ODTÜ Forest with the passage of time, and it was organized by Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi. The planting was held near the Gölbaşı entrance of Lake Eymir and followed by a variety of performances at the Kayıkhane region, including those initiated by the ODTÜ Student Associations, the Rowing Race, and the Republic Race which is held in the Republic Week every year. Thus, as part of the You Plant A Tree, We Build A Forest(1 Ağaç Sizden, 1 Orman Bizden) campaign, with the other seedlings planted on the ODTÜ terrain last year, approximately 50, 000 trees were planted.
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Acar, ODTÜ Rector, delivered a speech before the tree planting. “The tree planting tradition extends back 53 years and ODTÜ Forest is a valuable natural habitat, which covers an area of over 30,000 acres with millions of trees growing on the site”, he said. Prof. Acar pointed out the risk posed by the hustle of daily life, which encourages more production and more consumption, and added, “We shouldn’t put human life and health at risk, shouldn’t destroy nature, and future generations shouldn’t inherit a concrete jungle.” The You Plant A Tree, We Build A Forest campaign aims to plant 300,000 trees that will replace those 3,000 trees cut down on the night of October 18, 2013. The campaign was initiated in February, 2014, and will be held again in 2015.”
