Tanzania is committed to planting 5.2 million trees by 2030, as part of initiatives to restoring forest landscapes for a healthy planet and wealthy economies.
The commitment was expressed by the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ms Angellah Kairuki over the weekend during the 8th annual partnership meeting under the African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD).
“So far, 34 countries have agreed and have pledged to restore more than 129.5 million hectares. In this effort, Tanzania is committed to planting 5.2 million trees and has already planted 2.4 million trees, which is 46 per cent of our pledge,” she said.
Ms Kairuki said that President Samia Suluhu Hassan is among the world champions of natural conservation.
She has led the campaign of planting trees in the country, including spearheading efforts to switch to clean energy for cooking.
“President Samia has always been advocating for environmental conservation and tree planting, which is why she launched the ‘clean cooking energy’ campaign.
Through this campaign, we have seen her leading efforts to promote the restoration of our forests,” said Ms Kairuki.
Also read: Tanzania on right track on forest landscape restoration
Furthermore, Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) Chief Executive Officer Professor Dos Santos Silayo said that Tanzania has taken steps to conserve forests and natural vegetation by designating village lands that were not previously protected and upgrading the status of lower-grade forest areas to natural forests.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He said the objective is to enhance their protection. “For completely degraded areas, we planted new trees for environmental conservation and others for commercial purposes.
This was done to reduce reliance on natural forest resources and obtain them through sustainable plantation methods,” Prof Silayo said.
He said that TFS is coordinating management by improving the supervision of resources, a practice that many other countries are also adopting.
Prof Silayo added, “We have changed our resource management system from a civilian management system to a military one to have a team of committed and dedicated individuals with the discipline and expertise to carry out this work more efficiently and achieve the government’s goals.
He added that various activities have been carried out to restore forests and prevent their loss including making changes and amendments to policies, laws and regulations that govern the management and use of forest resources and various ecologies.
Source: allafrica.com
Share this news
This Year's Most Read News Stories
Zanzibar tourism investors alarmed by new mandatory insurance fee
Tourism investors in Zanzibar have voiced their concerns over the introduction of mandatory travel insurance, cautioning about its potential negative impact on the industry.Continue Reading
Zanzibar Airport Authority to audit ground handlers
Unguja. The Zanzibar Airports Authority (ZAA) is set to conduct an audit on ground handling companies that currently operate at the Abeid Amani Karume Airport with effect from Monday. The week-long audit is set to include Transworld, ZAT and the newcomer Dnata Zanzibar who were licensed in June plus exclusive rights to manage Terminal 3 building by ZAA.Continue Reading
Africa: Rwanda Gets a Grip Of Marburg, But Mpox ‘Not Yet Under Control’
Monrovia — The Rwanda Minister of State responsible for Health, Dr. Yvan Butera, cautioned that while the country is beginning to see positive signals in its fight against the Marburg virus, the outbreak is “not yet over”. He, however, expressed hope that “we are headed in that direction”. The minister said the epidemiology trend, since the disease was first discovered in the country more than a month ago, is moving towards fewer cases.
Dr. Butera, who was giving updates during an online briefing yesterday, said in the past two weeks, only two deaths were recorded while 14 people recovered from the disease. He said Rwanda was expanding its testing capacity with 16,000 people already inoculated against the disease.
The priority right now, Butera said, is “rapid testing and detection”.
Marburg is a highly virulent disease transmitted through human-to-human contact or contact with an infected animal. The fatality rate of cases, which has varied over the period, is more than 50%, according to the World Health Organization. WHO said the highest number of new confirmed cases in Rwanda were reported in the first two weeks of the outbreak. There’s been a “sharp decline” in the last few weeks, with the country now tackling over 60 cases.
At Thursday’s briefing, a senior official of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, said mpox – the other infectious disease outbreak that countries in the region are fighting – was been reported in 19 countries, with Mauritius being the latest country to confirm a case. He said although no new cases have been recorded in recent weeks in several countries where outbreaks occurred previously – including Cameroon, South Africa, Guinea, and Gabon – Uganda confirmed its first Mpox death. This, he said, is one of two fatalities reported outside Central Africa.
Dr. Ngashi revealed that there was an increase in cases in Liberia and Uganda. He said mpox cases were still on an upward trend.
“The situation is not yet under control.”
Source: allafrica.com
