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MBABANE – The Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, yesterday launched the planting of trees in the country in commemoration of the International Day of Forests on March 21, 2023.
Tourism Minister Moses Vilakati officially launched this initiative yesterday at the Eswatini National Trust Commission (ENTC) offices. The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Forests and Health’ and it outlines the significant role forests contribute to good health.
The Day of Forests, according to the minister, is celebrated to raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and trees outside forests, for the benefit of current and future generations. It highlights their functions to the environment and ecosystems, including their role to mitigate impacts of climate change.
According to the minister, the forests decontaminate the water that we drink, clean the air from impurities, capture carbon to fight climate change, provide food and life-saving medicines and improve our well-being.
Planting
“As a ministry, we are looking at planting 1.2 million trees by March 21, 2023. We, therefore, urge all emaSwati to start planting these indigenous and exotic trees from today moving forward; it would be good to have every liSwati planting a tree so as to meet this target,” he said.
Vilakati added that the trees would be planted in schools, health facilities, tinkhundla centres and communities, especially degraded areas, and that the Department of Forestry would be making announcements on the distribution centres, where these trees would be collected for planting.
The minister further mentioned
The minister making his remarks during the launch. that this initiative would positively contribute to the ongoing National Tree Planting Programme, which was launched by His Majesty’s Government in 2020. The initiative
SPONSORS
Government has partnered with various stakeholders including: EZIGRO, Vusumnotfo, Times of Eswatini, EEA, ENTC, Eswatini Water Services Cooperation, ESWADE, Municipal Councils (Manzini, Matsapha, Ezulwini, Mankayane and Nhlangano), PELUM, PRIVATE FOREST SECTOR COMPANIES (Montigny, Shiselweni Forest Company and TWK Peak Timbers), and many others.
would also put the country in a better position to participate in REDD+ projects and ultimately benefit from carbon trading.
Vilakati thanked all the partners and stakeholders that had donated materials, including the trees to support this initiative and further encouraged others to come forward and support this initiative and participate in the tree planting exercise.