Green Marathon campaign kicks off in Azerbaijan

By Fatima Hasanova

A massive tree-planting campaign was organized as part of the Green Marathon, jointly carried out by the IDEA Public Association and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Azernews reports.

In Mushfigabad, a village on the Absheron Peninsula, servicemen gathered to plant seedlings of more than 3,000 different kinds of trees over a 4-hectare area.

More than 2 million trees were planted during the year as part of the Green Marathon tree planting campaigns.

The project aims to increase the biodiversity of Azerbaijan's plant life and spread awareness of the need to protect the environment.

IDEA Public Union, launched by the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva in 2011, is aimed at promoting public awareness of environmental issues and action, collaboration with youth, education in the field of environmental problems, and finding proper solutions for them.

Since 2014, IDEA Public Union organizes an annual camp on the theme of the environment and biodiversity. During this period, summer camps were attended by more than 300 students from Azerbaijan's Salyan, Shamkir, Goranboy, Samukh, Gakh, Sheki, Masalli, Jalilabad, Yardimli, Lankaran, Astara, and Goygol districts.