The Faleata College has become a pioneer school as it has partnered with the Samoa Conservation Society for the Greening A School project in efforts to promote carbon off setting and planting more trees.

Faleata College is a model example in walking the talk with regard to climate change action.

S.C.S. congratulated the school for their existing and ongoing effort to reduce their carbon footprint on their environment through their interest in carbon auditing.

The school will be restoring and maintaining the degraded areas near the school alongside the Fuluasou River with plants that are flood proof and that can bind the soil together such as Falaga, Tava and a few other plant species.

Over time these trees will become food sources for native wildlife such as birds and butterflies as well as reduce the risk of flooding from the river.

The Faleata College principal, Iosefa Pu’a said it was an honour and a privilege to be part of this very important program.

“It benefits the school and the staff as well. The project is important because the message it carries is about life, the color of our school is green and it signifies life,” he said.

“This is important for this generation because they are the children of the future. Climate change is the result of human development and we are responsible to fix it. We are to raise the younger generation well so that when they grow up they already know to make the right decisions.” 

He added that the importance of educating the students about carbon offsetting by planting more trees is the impact it will have when they return to their homes and share that knowledge.

S.C.S president James Atherton said that the future of planet Earth is a result of all the little steps that everyone takes to reduce everyone’s carbon footprint or environmental impact.

“Right now we are at a critical moment in the history of our planet- as the decisions that we make in the next 10-20 years will have a profound impact on how livable Earth will be for future generations,” he said

“Since climate change is a result of human action, its solution is also a result of human action. So we all have a critical role to play- and we salute Faleata College for choosing action over words.” 

Samoa is the perfect place to grow trees because of its lush tropical environment where trees grow very fast. 

Each tree can be expected to absorb around 230 kilograms of carbon dioxide in their lifetime so to offset the school’s annual carbon emissions from their power usage, around 40-50 trees need to be planted every year.

“You should be very proud as you are the first school in Samoa that we are aware of to offset your annual carbon emissions,” said Mr. Atherton.