ARC - News and Features - Prince Charles plants a mango tree in Tanzania

A tree-planting project run by the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania received a helping hand from Prince Charles during his recent royal visit to East Africa.

With his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, looking on approvingly, Prince Charles planted a mango tree as part of his visit to Leganga Primary School in Arusha, in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania.

The school is involved in the tree-planting confirmation project established by Bishop Fredrick Shoo of the ELC's Northern Diocese.

Bishop Shoo has established nurseries to grow tree seedlings and each child who completes their confirmation into the church is given a sapling to plant on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of their confirmation ceremony.


	Bishop Shoo reads a speech to Prince Charles. Copyright Clarence House, 2011

It is all part of the ELC’s sustainable development programme of tree planting on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, which formed a core part of its long-term action plan on the environment. The project is supported by ARC and US-based ARC partner, Interfaith Power and Light.


	Watering the tree. Copyright Clarence House, 2011

His Royal Highness visited Leganga Primary School as part of his four-day visit to Tanzania last November. Bishop Frederick Shoo briefed him about the tree planting confirmation project and then Prince Charles picked up a shovel and planted his own mango tree to commemorate his visit to Leganga Primary School.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania comprises 20 dioceses and has a membership of more than 5.6 million in a population of nearly 38 million Tanzanians.

The Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania launched its long-term environmental action plan at ARC’s Windsor Celebration in November 2009. It includes a commitment to plant 8.5 million trees in Kilimanjaro over seven years.

For more information on the ELC's plan, click here.