Students adorned a bare tree branch with ribbons at the environment rally in Kelowna on Friday.

(SEAN MOTT / iNFOnews.ca)

KELOWNA - In Kelowna's Stuart Park today, students held up dead tree branches. One by one, people approached the branches and tied ribbons to them. These ribbons were covered in words describing what people want to protect from climate change.

This symbolic act was one of many activities at a student-led environment rally in Kelowna today, May 3. The event attracted dozens of students from different schools and passersby for an afternoon of climate change activism. While it wasn't as well-attended as a similar event in March, the turnout was still strong.

Lauren Moody and Josh McIsaac were two Kelowna student organizers who helped put the event together. Both Grade 12 students at Okanagan Mission Secondary, they decided to get involved with the event to raise awareness about the issue of climate change.

"It's probably the greatest challenge of our generation," Moody said.

"What we're doing to our planet is not sustainable," McIsaac said.

Westbank First Nation Chief Roxanne Lindley congratulated the students for their commitment to protecting the planet and she encouraged them to keep fighting to secure their future.

"Mother Earth is sacred and it needs protecting," she said. "I believe every one of you is a warrior. We can do it together."

In March, a similar environment protest was held around the world; in Kelowna along there were 350 students who marched downtown. The turnout was not as strong on May 3, with McIsaac saying the date didn't work as well for students who wanted to stay in school. McIsaac and Moody did note the turnout was solid and they estimated the total number of participants could reach 100. There were other similar events around the world, including Vernon.

Moody and McIsaac made a quick speech debunking climate change myths before asking people to write on their ribbons and cover the dead tree branches. The protesters then took to the streets for a climate change march.

"I am inspired by each and every one of you," Lindley told the crowd. "You are our future."

(SEAN MOTT / iNFOnews.ca)

A student-led rally for the environment was held at the Vernon courthouse, Friday, May 3, 2019.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Blair Derry

(SEAN MOTT / iNFOnews.ca)

(SEAN MOTT / iNFOnews.ca)

A student-led rally for the environment was held at the Vernon courthouse, Friday, May 3, 2019.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Blair Derry

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