THE LEAFLET

November 2, 2015 /
Italia Peretti

Office of Foreign Missions Branching Out

Last Friday, October 30, Casey Trees partnered with the U.S. Department of State, Office of Foreign Missions (OFM) to plant 31 trees at the International Culture Center in Northwest D.C. in conjunction with its Greening Diplomacy Initiative.

Begun in 2009 under the direction of former U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Greening Diplomacy Initiative aims to boost the environmental performance and sustainability of State Department facilities and operations.

Along with Casey Trees staff and volunteers, OFM staff and diplomats from 12 embassies including China, Nigeria, Monaco, Austria, Nigeria, Slovak Republic, Kuwait, Cameroon, Honduras and Singapore helped to plant trees. Each participating foreign mission made a donation to cover the cost of its tree for this event and OFM sponsored two.

This planting was particularly meaningful because many of the trees planted were native to the countries of the participating embassies. Casey Trees staff dedicated significant time to researching species options and determining which would thrive best in D.C. Such included species were the Chinese fringe tree (China), white pine (Austria), deodar cedar (Kuwait), plum (Cameroon), and a sour cherry (Honduras).

We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to plant with leaders and dignitaries from all over the world and in collaboration with an environmental focused initiative.

We have an unofficial mantra here at Casey Trees — we connect people to trees, through trees — and we think this Community Tree Planting underscores that perfectly.

Check out all the photos from the planting. Like what you see? Submit your own application for a Community Tree Planting. Applications are accepted are due May 1, 2016 for a fall 2016 or spring 2017 planting date.