January: Month of Afforestation

CAIRO - 11 January 2020: Egypt’s Ministry of Environment announced that January is the month of afforestation in light of the national initiative of “Live Green,” under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

The initiative aims at raising awareness of an environmental issue every month. Consequently, the ministry focused on “afforestation” in January, said the ministry in a statement on Saturday. The campaign targets planting the areas around the public schools and at squares, besides places of garbage accumulation into green areas, the statement added.



Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad held a roundtable with a number of experts and representatives of the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to start implementing the afforestation campaign across the country.

“Afforestation is the fastest and cheapest way to confront air pollution and climate change impacts, and conserve natural resources,” said Fouad at the roundtable, adding that the ministry submitted the Cabinet a plan of planting trees nationwide in cooperation with the concerned bodies.

The ministry contacted the Ministry of Agriculture to define the appropriate trees for each place and the methods of cultivation, the statement said.

In the Fifth Settlement district of Cairo, some residents, youth and volunteers planted 100 fruitful trees to start implementing the campaign, said the ministry in another statement on Saturday.

The ministry called on all community institutions and citizens to participate in the “Live Green” initiative, focusing on afforestation. The volunteers can contact the ministry on hotline 19808 from 8:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m. (Cairo Time), while on public holidays, the service is available until 3:00 p.m.

The ministry also allocated a WhatsApp number 01222693333 for 24 hours, the statement said.

The “Live Green” initiative focuses on the youth’s role in protecting their environment, the minister said in her speech at the World Youth Forum in Sharm el Sheikh on December 12, 2019, adding that the government targets a 50-percent decrease of the solid particle pollution rate by 2030.

A study published by Science in July 2019 revealed that the universe has to cultivate 1 billion hectares of trees to help curb carbon dioxide emissions globally and limit the impacts of climate change. Some countries like India, Ethiopia, Kenya, the US, and the UK launched campaigns of afforestation to face climate change impacts.