Skradin: The return of mulberries to a kindergarten as a symbol of preserving nature and tradition

Skradin: The return of mulberries to a kindergarten as a symbol of preserving nature and tradition
The Krka National Park encourages children to plant and further care for the environment

A Greek proverb says: The earth will blossom when old people start planting trees knowing that they will never rest in their shade. That is why there is much symbolism in the planting of mulberry trees, a tree strongly intermingled with Skradin's history, in the yard of the Skradin Kindergarten.

The Krka National Park donated five mulberry seedlings to the kindergarten on the occasion of the nomination of the mulberry tree at Skradinski buk waterfall for the Croatian Tree of the Year. In addition to the seedlings, we also gave the children five birdhouses to place on the planted trees before the coming winter, and the Krka National Park employees suggested appropriate activities for the children from the Forest Workshop.

This year, the Krka National Park joined the action "Grow together", which has been implemented as part of the European initiative to plant three billion trees by 2030. On that occasion, saplings of autochthonous arbutus (planika) and laurel species were distributed to the local population on Labor Day. This represents both a continuation of that action, but also the education of children about the common traditions and recognizable images of our landscape.

"Through the donation of mulberry seedlings and birdhouses, we want to educate and inspire children at the Skradin Kindergarten. Let these trees and houses be a symbol of togetherness, caring for nature, and the future we are building together. This initiative is part of the European project to plant three billion trees by 2030, and we have decided to support such efforts to preserve our natural heritage", said the director of the Krka National Park, Nella Slavica.

For the mulberry, Virgil said that it is the smartest plant, as it is the last to bloom while waiting for warm weather. Its fruits are both tasty and medicinal, and the leaves are food for the mulberry moth (Bombyx mory), a butterfly family member that is also called the mulberry silkworm because silk fibers are obtained from its cocoon. The mulberry tree travelled to our region on the Silk Road from China and Japan.

The story of the silken past and the sweet present of this region is also told by the mulberry tree near the Skradinski buk waterfall, which is estimated to be around four hundred years old. As Don Krsto Stošić tells us, in the first half of the 19^th century, Skradin was home to the largest silkworm breeding site in Dalmatia: in the thirties of the 19^th century, Skradin, along with Rab, was the largest producer of mulberry silkworm cocoons in Dalmatia. Up to the 1860s, the production of silk cocoons in Dalmatia grew, but with the appearance of the mulberry tree disease, it fell sharply. At the beginning of the 20^th century, Skradin was the only place in Dalmatia where cocoons and silk were produced.