Close to 1000 Monaco Births a Year Celebrated with a Gift of Olive Trees

The 13th edition of the operation “1 birth = 1 tree“ organized by the Monaco City Hall in partnership with the National Forestry Office (ONF) has taken a different course in this uniquely challenging year 2020. 

So this year, due to the health crisis linked to COVID19, the Monaco Town Hall was forced to cancel the symbolic planting of trees, the operation called “1 birth = 1 tree”. This usually takes place in the town of La Turbie. However, the Communal Council wanted to involve and recognize the families of municipal employees who had a declared child in Monaco in 2019, as is customary, in order to symbolically mark this 13th edition.

Thus, parents and children were gathered on Thursday, November 5, 2020 at the end of the day around the Mayor Georges Marsan and four of his deputies – Marjorie Crovetto, in charge of the Living Environment, the Environment and Sustainable Development, as well as Jacques Pastor, Karyn Ardisson Salopek and Claude Bollati, for a moment that is both official and heart-warming in the Cour d’Honneur of the Town Hall.

Commitment to the Environment 

In his welcome address, the Mayor wished to remind everyone of the Town Hall’s commitment to the environment, in particular through this reforestation operation. Indeed, after having reforested the surrounding municipalities, the operation “1 birth = 1 tree” has been participating for two years, in collaboration with the ONF teams, in the reforestation of the national forest of Val Daluis in the Var where every year nearly 1,000 trees are planted corresponding to the number of births recorded in the Principality. This year, 939 trees will be planted, bringing the total number to 12,727 since the operation began in 2008.

Uniquely for 2020 an Olive Tree Gift 

In the absence of a symbolic plantation, the Communal Council gave each family a small olive tree, a symbol of peace and reconciliation in the Catholic religion, but also of strength, victory, longevity and hope in Greek civilization. An olive tree also bears witness to the history of the Principality, which recalls the work of our ancestors, whose cultivation of these trees was the main resource. And the Mayor concluded: “I hope you take care of it and that it grows with your child and will remain the symbol of his and her birth. “

A Billion Trees 

Initiated in 2008, the operation “1 birth = 1 tree” was part of the global campaign “Plant for the planet” sponsored by HSH Prince Albert II, aiming to plant a billion trees. Today, it counts for more than 12,000 trees planted by the Monaco City Hall, thus confirming the actions of the Municipality in favour of the environment.