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Walk it, don’t drive it campaign goes to Wing Beach
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Posted on Oct 26 2004
Team Responsible for Environmental Enhancement of Saipan or TREES went down to Wing Beach early Saturday morning and implemented its “Walk it, don’t drive it” campaign on the site.
The campaign aims to limit vehicular access to beaches and, since they were already at the site, TREES also did a beach cleanup and tree-planting activity at Wing Beach.
The effort couldn’t have come at a better time since October is Arbor Month and Wing Beach has been declared an active nesting site for the endangered sea green turtle.
TREES, a nonprofit group made of various government and private environmental agencies, also got plenty of help in the undertaking from the Philippine Overseas Worker Empowerment Inc. or POWER and students from Northern Marianas College.
At the end of the day, TREES, POWER, and the NMC natural resources conservation class were able to plant 100 seedlings and install bollards on the beach to discourage driving. The gates and a signage showing that Wing Beach is a nesting site for the sea turtle would soon to follow according to TREES.
Seedlings planted on the site, according to TREES, were Monkeypod and D’OK trees, varieties of indigenous trees that are salt resistant and are well suited to grow in such conditions.
The cleanup, meanwhile, yielded “only” 15 bags of trash, a testament to how Wing Beach has somehow maintained its pristine state and TREES hopes it stays that way.
The group, numbering a little over 50 individuals, also cleared some space on Wing Beach’s north parking area that is now good enough to accommodate 20 vehicles.
TREES said the expanded parking lot would help the Department of Public Safety better monitor cars parked in the area against incidents of burglary and even car theft.
TREES is a multi-agency and private sector group whose mission is to organize volunteers to propagate and plant the island with aesthetically appealing vegetation, and foster environmental stewardship, pride, and respect within the community.
TREES also won the support of two philanthropic organizations, the Kaeniyu-Kai (Flame Tree) Foundation and Komaba Rotary Club of Japan, which provide funding for its projects.
