Demir Export’s “Traditional tree planting festival”

Demir Export’s 4th annual “Tree Planting Festival” was held on November 14, 2009. The purpose of this event, organized every year, is to reforest the mining area at Demir Export’s Sivas-Kangal Coal Plant. An enthusiastic crowd of nearly 400 people came out for the festival. Participants included Ankara, Sivas, and Kangal representatives from the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA); the Sivas Environment & Forestry provincial director; the mayor and district governor of Kangal; faculty members and students from Cumhuriyet University Mining Engineering department; representatives from the Turkish Education Volunteers Foundation; and Demir Export executives and employees. Guests attending the festival were given a presentation on the coal plant, and lunch was provided as well. As a traditional part of the festival, 70,000 acorn trees were planted in the mining area. Afterwards, General Manager T. Selcuk Kaya recognized both the Kangal district governor and a TEMA board member by giving plaques to these honoured guests, which highlighted the festival’s significance and showed them our appreciation for their interest in the festival.