“City Tree”: Green billboards – a symbol of the need for urban greenery

An installation of green billboards for air purification will be placed in the center of Skopje and Tetovo in the beginning of October, as part of the “City Tree” project. This innovation was presented at today’s press conference, at which German Ambassador Christine D. Althauser was present.

“The air pollution in Macedonia has continuously been exceeding the allowable limits in these past years. Bitola and Skopje are first on the list of most polluted cities in Europe! The installation will help in lowering the air pollution, in improving the quality of life and in raising public awareness on environmental preservation.  They will be vertical structures of mosses, with vascular plants that absorb PM particles, nitrogen oxides and ozone. The absorptive structure has the ability of slowing down the speed of the wind. The mosses attract fine dust and transform it into phytomass that they use as food”, stated the executive director of “Eko-svest” (Eco-awareness) Ana Colovic Leshoska while presenting the “City Tree” project.

Leshoska stressed that “City Tree” is not a replacement for the urban greenery, but that it represents a symbol in that Skopje and Tetovo need to transform into green cities.

The structure of the green billboards is self-sustainable and requires maintenance of just a few hours a year. One installation costs 25.000 euros.

Christine D. Althauser, German Ambassador

“Germany’s foreign policy is in the direction of dealing with the consequences of climate changes. In this respect, we are currently implementing two projects in Macedonia, one concerns the impact of climate changes on agriculture, while the second one we are presenting today. These kind of green billboards are placed in several cities in Germany, and also in Oslo, Hong Kong…”, outlined Christine D. Althauser.

Cvetanka Ikonomova Martinovska, City of Skopje

According to Cvetanka Ikonomova Martinovska, Head of the Department for Protection of Nature and Environment in the City of Skopje, several projects are currently being carried out for reducing air pollution, among which is the measurement of the impact of firewood and the impact of traffic on pollution.

The “City Tree” project is implemented by the Center for Environmental Research and Information “Eko-Svest” from Skopje, in cooperation with the German Embassy, the City of Skopje and Macedonian and foreign companies – donors.

Marija Tegovska

Camera: Dehran Muratov