KARONGI - The Dutch government is funding a project that will see a total of 25 million trees planted on 10,000 hectares of land in various parts of the country in the next few years.

The 10m Euro project will operate in nine districts. This was revealed by Jolke Oppewal, the Head of Cooperation at the Dutch Embassy after launching the tree planting project in Karongi District on Monday.

While addressing thousands of excited residents who had turned up for the tree planting exercise, Oppewal promised full commitment to help improve the environment of the country.

"Two years ago, we started supporting this project and my country is proud and fully committed to help Rwandans improve their social and economic welfare through encouraging them to plant even more trees,” he said.

Oppewal added that as much as trees are necessary in conserving the environment, they are also an important source of fuel and economic development.

At the function, Provincial Governor, Celestin Kabahizi, re-affirmed the importance of keeping the environment green.

He hailed the area residents who planted over 2000 trees on 15 hectares of land.

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