Photos: Egypt launches initiative to plant 500,000 trees on canal banks

CAIRO – 5 June 2021: Youth Love Egypt (YLE) Foundation announced on Saturday launching an initiative to encourage planting 500,000 trees on the banks of the canals nationwide over the course of two years.

The initiative, dubbed “Nile Tree” comes in cooperation with the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources and targets the canals that have been recently lined under the national project in this regard.

Volunteers already planted 500 trees in one of the lined canals on Saturday morning.

The initiative aims to beautify the canals, curb rubbish throwing, decrease temperature and reduce climate change impacts, YLE said.

Ahmed Fathy, the head and founder of the YLE, said 15 volunteers are present today to take part in the initiative and plant several types of trees that give bright colors.

Fathy referred to the vegetation these trees will provide, affirming that there would be a follow-up plan to look after these trees.

Over the coming three years, the initiative plans to plant 1.4 million trees, Fathy revealed.

The launch of the initiative corresponds with the World Environment Day celebrated annually on 5 June. This year, it is held under the theme: “ecosystem restoration”.

 

 

 

In April, the Ministry of Irrigation announced finishing the lining of 1,603 kilometers of canals across 20 governorates within the first phase, which will end on June 20, 2022 after lining a total of 7,790 kilometers at LE18 billion.

The canal lining project is part of the National Project for Developing the Egyptian Countryside aimed at raising the quality of life of residents of rural areas. The lining of canals would enhance water management and distribution, ensure the delivery of water to the ends of canals, and inhibit pollution.

Egypt celebrates on January 27 its National Environment Day, which marks the day when the first legislation, Law No 4 of 1994, to protect the environment in the country was issued.

The celebration this year was held under the theme ‘Green Recovery – A way to post-COVID-19’.

The National Environment Day is held in light of the need to raise public awareness of the environment protection.

The notion was adopted by the ministry in cooperation with the Arab Council for Youth and Environment, the statement added.

Pakistan is hosting today the World Environment Day in partnership with the United Nations Environment Program.

As a result of the efforts made by the Egyptian state, Egypt has achieved progress by 7.7 percent over the past 10 years in the Environmental Performance Index, the Cabinet said.

It added that Egypt came at the 94th place on the index in 2020 among 180 countries.

Egypt, among 11 countries, has received two Sustainability Awards from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the field of sustainability for 2020.

The awards came especially in the fields of renewable energy, preserving the environment and empowering women.