Anti ‘boomfire’ campaign
In an effort to save trees and preserve the environment, the Daveyton Environmental Youth Council has initiated an Anti-boom fire Campaign in the area.
Boom fires occur when big trees are chopped down and then placed vertically in a small hole, have numerous tyres hung around their branches, are doused with petrol and set alight, in celebration of New Year’s Eve.
Many trees and countless tyres suffer this fate every year.
Environmental educator at the Youth Council Thabo Sibeko said this type of celebration has been happening since 1960.
“It is also setting a negative trend for the coming generation, more especially when our country is striving for climate change mitigation and adaptation,” said Sibeko.
Sibeko said that chopping down trees is an environmental problem and is not practiced correctly, considering all the guiding policies in place.
“Trees play a major role in the cycle of our eco-system; they absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us to breathe clean air,” said Sibeko.
He said losing many trees meant carbon dioxide would increase, leading to a serious health problem, not only for local residents, but for the country at large.
“Thousands of tyres that are burned on that day cause air pollution, which affects birds and contributes to natural disasters like global warming and climate change,” he added.
Sibeko said the ash from the “boom fires”, which pollutes the soil, also badly affects the underground life like insects, which contribute a lot to the eco-system in the decomposing process.
