City Tree a green billboard designed to purify ambient air, was promoted Wednesday in downtown Skopje. It serves as a filter to compensate for pollution caused by 417 cars annually. It is easily adaptable and has the effect of 275 trees, but it cannot replace them. The climate change protection project City Tree was promoted in Skopje by the EkoSvest NGO and the German embassy.
The same billboard was opened yesterday in Tetovo. The installation consists of many individual pots in which two types of plants have been planted. They can absorb tiny particles, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), heavy metals, sulfur and nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc. Speaking at the promotion, German Ambassador Christine Althauser said good air, good water and unpolluted environment were benefits equally important not only for Oslo, which also featured such an installation, but also for Skopje, Tetovo and Bitola.
"Germany's foreign ministry in 2016 with finances from the climate fund had supported two projects in Macedonia, including the City Tree. New projects are coming in 2017," she said.
Thanking for the donation, Marjanco Todorovski of the City of Skopje said the innovative project put the Macedonian capital on the map of cities implementing the concept. He said he hoped the City Tree would contribute to raising public awareness about the importance of a clean environment and the threat posed by climate changes.
