Unificationists Celebrate Arbor Day by Tending to Nature
Photo courtesy of Shine City Project
Living among some 73,000 tree species globally, today we celebrate national Arbor Day and humanity’s love for nature.
Arbor Day, which falls on the last Friday of April, encourages people to plant trees — and many communities traditionally organize tree-planting and litter-collecting events on or around the holiday, including a number of young Unificationists.
“In honor of Arbor Day, Shine City Project is helping to plant ponderosa pine trees at Mount Charleston,” says Shine City Project (SCP) National Director, Jeffrey Silerio, who oversees the volunteer group of young Unificationists from Las Vegas. The team returned to Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, also known as Mount Charleston, after holding back-to-back nature service projects across the community throughout this spring.
“In early April, we had 17 volunteers make our way to Macks Canyon, a popular campground also in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area,” says Silerio. “It was great being able to breathe in the fresh, cool air while being surrounded by the numerous trees.”
“In the distance, we could also still see snow in the higher elevations,” he says. “With grabbers and trash bags, our volunteers picked up litter in areas near the campground entrance and along Macks Canyon Road. After two hours, our volunteers were able to collect over 290 pounds of litter! We had such a great time being there.”
Photo courtesy of Shine City Project
Last week, SCP celebrated Earth Day by cleaning up Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area along the southeast edge of the Las Vegas Valley. The team also recently participated in the semi-annual Las Vegas Wash Green-Up, where every spring and fall volunteers help revegetate part of a 12-mile long channel that feeds the valley’s excess water into Lake Mead.
“Along the way, the Las Vegas Wash flows through the Clark County Wetlands Park, which has an important role of helping to filter the water,” says Silerio. About 15 SCP volunteers helped plant more than 5,000 shrubs and grasses across some nine acres of the Las Vegas Wash. “We planted globemallow, brittlebush, desert marigold, and alkali sacaton,” he says. “These plants are all native to the Mojave Desert ... Our team made up almost half of the total volunteers who came to support the event.”
The group visited the Clark County Wetlands Park on another occasion, where they planted new trees and plants outside the park’s nature center. “With a wheelbarrow and some buckets, our team helped to move rocks into the planting area from another part of the nature center,” says Silerio. “We removed some trees from their pots and placed them into their new homes. And with wire cutters, we cut and positioned wire cages around the trees to prevent animals such as rabbits from harming the newly planted trees. We also put in emitters for the drip irrigation system.”
Photo courtesy of Shine City Project
Silerio says such planting and cleanup projects feel rewarding and cultivate a deeper love and respect for nature among participants. “These hands-on experiences provided our volunteers with new learning opportunities about the native plants in our area, as well as about general landscaping and gardening,” he says. “It’s such a great experience being able to contribute and care for our environment ... and then come back and see how the area transforms and becomes more beautiful over time.”
True Parents also encouraged and fostered an endearment toward nature, articulating that it’s a way to more intimately connect and build our relationship with God. “Human beings and nature have an inseparable relationship,” wrote True Mother in her memoir, Mother of Peace (2020). “We can be enlightened to God’s act of creation and His mystical truth through nature, which represents Him, only when we live in it, invest in it, and study it ... When we do so, we can live each day with a heart of love and gratitude.”
You can learn more about national Arbor Day here.