National tree planting exercise next week

Cells ought to create tree planting committees similar to those set up to control soil erosion, the Minister of Natural Resources, Stanislas Kamanzi has said.Kamanzi said while the monthly community work exercise commonly known as Umuganda had greatly contributed to afforestation, there was need to engage the services of smaller organised groups to prevent trees withering as soon as they are planted. The minister made the remarks on Tuesday while addressing district lands and forestry officials in Kabgayi, Muhanga District in Southern Province ahead of the national afforestation and reforestation campaign that will nationally be launched on November 16.“While Umuganda has been productive in ensuring that trees are extensively planted, the quality of work is not good because the trees are badly planted by too many people at a go and as a consequence, after short time, one no longer sees the trees,” he stated. The minister observed that instead of engaging so many people during the Umuganda, it was more prudent to use a smaller number who would be held responsible so as to ensure that the trees flourish. He recommended that instead of, for instance, engaging 5,000 people on one site to plant trees, there was need to assign youth and residents from a particular cell to create a sense of ownership.The meeting further discussed an upcoming soil erosion control campaign to be held under the theme “Healthy forests, Healthy people”.The drive aligns well with the current campaign to fast-track soil erosion control in order to prevent disasters.The minister observed that farmers in Southern Province had made minimal efforts to contain soil erosion, yet land is considered the country’s second most valuable asset after the population.He reiterated that while unwilling farmers are liable to a fine, those with limited capacity to contain erosion should be supported through community mobilisation efforts. The minister disagreed with views that some farmers had failed to control soil erosion as this coincided with the present planting season.“Generally, Rwandan farmers own small pieces of land. Is it difficult to take one or two days for anti-erosion practices?” he posed. The Governor of Southern Province, Alphonse Munyentwari, challenged the district forestry officials to plan the tree planting exercise early enough so as not to hinder the crop planting season.The planning activities include preparing seedlings, determining the varieties of trees to be planted and budgeting.The officials pledged to have completed the afforestation exercise not later than December 15 and plan early next year. The government target is to have 30 percent of the country’s surface area covered by forests. So far, according to Kamanzi, 23.7 percent of the country’s surface area is covered by forests.