The Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform lays down a plan to reforest the sites affected by fires in al-Ghab and Misyaf

The Director of Forestry at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Dr. Hassan Faris, announced that the ministry has completed its production plan for afforestation, which it will implement as part of the national afforestation campaign, stressing that reforestation of areas that have been exposed to fires and increasing green areas are among its priorities during the next phase.

The aim of the campaign, which is due to begin on November  1, and ends in late March, is to restore the beauty and glory of the lands, Faris said,  indicating that the areas that were exposed to fires in Al-Ghab and Misyaf regions in the governorate of Hama were counted and their borders were accurately determined in cooperation with the General Authority for Remote Sensing. About an area of 50 meters around the area affected by fires will be afforested and there will be followed-up. The aim of this high  speed of afforestation  is to protect forest sites from encroachment in addition to the safety of the site and to prevent erosion.

Faris indicated in a statement to SANA that the Ministry of Agriculture, represented by the Directorate of Forestry and its departments in the governorates, is working to implement the tasks of increasing green areas, rehabilitating and planting damaged and burned sites, pointing out that the number of the forest plantings which are produced  and scheduled to be planted during this season amounted to about 6 million seedlings that will be distributed on the 4 thousand-hectare forest sites. The afforestation requirements are secured in all governorates.

Faris noted that the ministry is working according to a participatory approach with organizations, institutions, civil societies and volunteers in the afforestation campaign and welcomes any civil initiative that contributes to increasing the green space according to its requirements.

Faris underlined the importance of encouraging the establishment of all environmental activities and voluntary initiatives that serve the environment and people, stressing that preserving the environment is everyone’s responsibility and that afforestation campaigns contribute to the cooperation of volunteer teams and spreading the culture of planting and agriculture.

Fares referred to the coordination with the Ministries of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Education, the Agricultural Engineers Association, the Revolutionary Youth Union and the Vanguards of the Baath, and the Syrian Student Union to develop a work program and methodology for cultivating all the spaces surrounding “public and private” schools, universities and institutes. This program would define the areas that can be cultivated and the bodies responsible for caring for plantings and species that are appropriate to the conditions of the region in which the school, institute or university is located, with an emphasis on the role of each party in securing the plants and moving them to the planting site and how to take care of it.

Inas Abdulkareem