June 17, 2024 , A four-person team from Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with their Global Mayor’s Challenge implementing partner, Delivery Associates, visited Freetown from June 11 to June 14. This visit was part of their tour to engage with the 15 cities worldwide that won the Bloomberg Global Mayor’s Challenge, and we were excited to welcome them as one of the winning cities!
The visit was busy yet highly productive, featuring hours of meetings with Freetown City Council (FCC) management and the #FreetownTheTreeTown project team. The Bloomberg team received detailed updates on the project’s status and progress against the agreed delivery plan and milestones. Key topics included securing a carbon developer and the localization of the tree tracker digital platform.
A notable highlight was the #FreetownTheTreeTown donor roundtable , which introduced the Bloomberg team to the World Bank project teams (RUSLP and PSSNYE), the primary funders behind the 977,000 trees planted to date, as well as the additional 300,000 trees scheduled for planting starting this week. CRS, a direct tree donor and project partner, also participated in the discussions.
On June 13, the team held a FreetownTheTreeTown Town Hall meeting, emphasizing community engagement. Representatives from Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), tribal leaders, school children, and tree growers actively participated, sharing testimonials about the project’s impact. A captivating and thought-provoking skit further illustrated the significant positive effects of #FreetownTheTreeTown on communities throughout the city.
The highlight of the Bloomberg team’s visit was the hike to the, Botanical Gardens , where 18,700 trees have been planted and tracked. They also witnessed firsthand the 80,000 mangroves planted at Congo Town in partnership with CRS. In a practical demonstration of the #FreetownTheTreeTown initiative, each Bloomberg team member planted a tree and uploaded a photo using the tree tracker app on our digital platform.
Funding from Bloomberg and the World Bank is crucial for the sustainability of the #FreetownTheTreeTown project, supporting the creation of an additional 1,187 direct jobs set to begin next month for an initial one-year period. The project not only focuses on planting and nurturing trees to stabilize slopes, reduce landslide risks, protect water catchments, and restore biodiversity and ecological systems, but it also transforms lives by creating employment opportunities.