ENVIROMENT - The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has ranked Rwanda among the world’s top countries that have planted many trees in 2007.

Rwanda is ranked the sixth after planting over 50 million trees from January to the beginning of this month. The country ranked third on the continent after Ethiopia and Kenya.

Ethiopia leads the way worldwide with 700 million trees planted in a national reforestation drive.

Mexico is ranked second in 217 million trees planted in 2007, Turkey came third with 150 million, Kenya came fourth with 100 million trees, while Cuba came fifth with 96.5 million trees planted this year.

The UNEP ranking comes after Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai launched a campaign of planting one billion trees this year.
Maathai who is also the founder of Green Belt Movement extended her campaign globally.

The Minister of Lands, Forestry, Water, and Mines, Christophe Bazivamo, said that Rwanda is proud to have been ranked highly, adding that the process will go on.

"Rwanda is the smallest among the best countries listed. This shows how courageous we are to plant as many trees as possible,” he said. Bazivamo said Rwanda plans to plant 400 million trees by the end of 2017.

He added that the country is faced with a challenge of having little land, which is not enough to accommodate trees the government would wish to be planted.
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