In pics: Children participate in planting their city southern Cairo

CAIRO - 8 February 2020: A group of young children participated in the governmental plan of afforestation, planting a central place in their city of Maadi, Southern Cairo, with trees, said the Egyptian Ministry of Environment in a statement on Saturday.

The children, along with a group of youth, cleaned the central island in al-Khamssin street of Maadi and sowed seeds of the trees after coordinating with the municipality of Al-Basatin District, the statement added.

The participants painted the old tires of vehicles with beautiful colors to make them as shelters for the newly-planted trees from strong winds, the statement continued.

The ministry had announced that last 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 “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.