Deputy Prime Minister Somers discovers climate sites in Roeselare

The City of Roeselare already signed the Local Energy and Climate Pact last year. “Together with various partners, ambassadors and Climate Switchers, we showed that we as a City want to work together for everyone and everyone to create a green, healthy, pleasant city. This is very visible today in the streets with the various climate sites. We are pleased that Minister Somers will accompany us with our love trees and go on a journey,” says Mayor Kris Declercq.

greening

One of the objectives of the Flemish Climate Pact is greening. The Flemish Climate Pact wants one extra tree per Fleming by 2030. That is equivalent to about 6.6 million extra trees in Flanders, of which about 65,000 have to be planted in Roeselare.

Raising the bar

Michèle Hostekint, alderman for Nature & Forest, thinks it’s a great ambition that the city should certainly be able to achieve. “After all, at the start of the legislature, the city council set the bar even higher for itself. With the RSL Boomt action plan, Roeselare, together with its residents, wants to plant no less than 100,000 new trees by 2025. These trees will be planted in our urban fringe forests, on roads. , neighborhoods and squares as in people’s homes in the gardens.”

The walk this morning started at Chalet d’Amour at De Munt. There, citizens’ initiative Meer Trees in Roeselare, together with the City, again handed out free love trees this Valentine’s weekend to anyone who reserved a tree package. Charmed by the action, the minister also gave a “heart” during the distribution.

Best practice

Bart Somers was very impressed by the Roeselare approach: ”293 of the 300 Flemish cities and municipalities have signed the Local Energy and Climate Pact. They commit themselves to achieving very concrete objectives, such as 1 tree per inhabitant. Roeselare can safely be called a ‘best practice’. By simultaneously deploying various innovative sites, the city makes a substantial contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and making Flanders greener, more beautiful and more liveable. In addition, the board is joining forces with committed citizens’ associations to enthuse even more residents, which proves the great interest in the wonderful initiative of the Love Trees on the occasion of Valentine’s Day.”