THE Dar Rapid Transit (DART), a city council transport franchise, in collaboration with the Africa Carbon Agency, plans to plant one million jacaranda trees along the bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors to promote environmental conservation and make the city greener.

Dr Athumani Kihamia, the DART chief executive officer said at a press conference yesterday that said the trees are being donated by the agency to enhance the environment and beautify the city.

In remarks after launching the initiative near the Morocco BRT station, he said that the Africa Carbon Agency is committed to ensuring a healthy climate by reducing environmental pollution. One of their strategies is tree planting.

An online entry says that ACA has worked and attracted the attention of climate investors and developers from Italy, Switzerland, U.S., Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Mauritius, while the DART CEO said the project reflects its numerous responsibilities.

These include ensuring the availability of buses along the transit routes and reducing pollution, he said, pointing at the need to adopt additional measures, such as moving away from diesel fuel, as it carries a number of fuel use risks.

Tree planting is essential to beautify the environment and improve air quality, so the city cannot build roads and let the surrounding areas remain concrete deserts, thus the need for trees along the corridors, he elaborated.

This initiative enhances government efforts to protect the environment, where planting one million trees along the corridors is a positive step forward, he stated.

The first phase starts from Morocco to Magomeni, with the project expected to be carried out in the entire breadth of six phases of the BRT project, he said.

The project involves 3,000 buses where all the corridors will have approved trees planted by the Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS)," the CEO indicated.

He appealed to the community to participate in protecting the trees to ensure sustainability, thus reducing the glare of the sun and heat as people use the DART facilities.

"We also plan to use solar energy at the stations in partnership with different stakeholders. Some buses under maintenance will be converted to natural gas, and new ones will be fitted for use of CNG," he said.

Rahim Kangezi, the ACA (T) CEO said the project is intended to support DART in conserving the environment along the bus routes.

"We are delighted to partner with DART to make Dar es Salaam green and ultimately carbon neutral. This collaboration marks the beginning of a long-term partnership," he stated.

The partnership includes investments in renewable energy, ensuring that electricity used at the BRT stations is solar-powered, he explained.

"We support the government’s efforts and align with the president's policy for a greener Tanzania. This is a long-term collaboration to ensure Dar es Salaam becomes a green city," he specified.

Frank Sima, an ACA forestry officer, noted that a single jacaranda tree costs up to 2,500/-, and is globally recognized for its ability to reduce carbon dioxide in the air.

Shaheed Dhanani, the Comex (T) director, said the tree-planting initiative aligns with global efforts, particularly the sustainable development Goal no. 13, which focuses on environmental conservation through climate action.