Afforestation Central Committee: Afforestation of 3800 hectares within production plan for next year
The Afforestation Central Committee discussed the implementation of its production plan for the current year until the end of last October and its plan for 2022, which includes fruit producing afforestation, artificial afforestation and land reclamation.
During its meeting on Saturday under the chairmanship of Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Eng. Mohamed Hassan Qatana, the committee indicated that the implementation of this year’s plan amounted to 1,864 hectares, including 386 hectares of fruit producing afforestation, 263 hectares in the green belt and 1,215 hectares of land reclamation. The next year’s plan is set to implement 3800 hectares, including 875 hectares of fruitful afforestation, 425 hectares of green belt and 2500 hectares of land reclamation.
Minister Qatana underlined the importance of making the plans set realistic and feasible according to specific scientific conditions, pointing out that the sustainability and preservation of planted trees are among the foundations of the success of afforestation.
For his part, the Director of Plant Production at the Ministry, Engineer Ahmed Haider, noted that the plan for the production of fruitful seedlings for the 2021 season amounted to 3 million and 300 thousand plants, of which 2 million and 700 thousand were carried out. There are 3 million and 700 thousand fruitful plants ready for sale.
In turn, the Director of Forestry, Dr. Ali Thabet, asserted that during the first ten months of this year, 4,500,000 forest plants were produced, about 4 thousand hectares were reforested, 49 hectares reclaimed, 9 kilometers were built for service roads, and 20 kilometers were repaired for service roads within the artificial forest sites.
Regarding industrial afforestation, Thabet said that there are 6 million and 800,000 forest plants in the 2021 season, including 3 million and 600,000 recycled plants from previous seasons.
Inas Abdulkaree