A plan is underway to grow more than 22M saplings nationwide, including state-owned forests, during this monsoon season.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing spotlighted the 2020 report of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and mentioned that the forest coverage in Myanmar accounted for 42.19 per cent of the total area.
Chairman of the State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing spoke on the occasion of holding the first monsoon tree-growing ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw in 2024 held on the campus of Naypyitaw State Academy in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday morning.
In his address, the Senior General said it is necessary to grow two-year-old saplings with more than two feet in height to thrive successfully.
The Senior General stressed the need to conserve forests and grow saplings along the banks of rivers and creeks as well as along ASEAN Highways, the expressway and railways and establish mangrove forests.
He recounted that after taking office, the State Administration Council has been holding tree-growing ceremonies to grow 12,455 saplings eight times in Nay Pyi Taw since 2021, whereas families of Tatmadaw (Army, Navy and Air) grew 30,154 saplings eight times.
Moreover, he added that a total of 775,192 saplings have been planted at 1,147 tree-growing ceremonies in pre-monsoon and monsoon tree-growing ceremonies nationwide since 2021.
He unveiled that a total of 1,030 saplings of six species will be grown on the campus of Naypyitaw State Academy.
The Senior General continued to say that, according to the UN FAO, the global forest coverage is 10.03 billion acres of land, which is one-third of the total global land. However, such coverage declined by 19.27 million acres per year from 1990 to 2000, 12.85 million acres per year from 2000 to 2010 and 11.61 million acres per year from 2010 to 2020, he noted.
He explained that ASEAN forest coverage reached 528.79 million acres, but it faced 92.91 million acres of deforestation within 30 years from 1990 to 2020.
He quoted the 2020 report of the UN FAO, saying that Myanmar stood second in possessing the most significant forest areas among ASEAN countries, accounting for 42.19 per cent of forest coverage in 2020. But, he continued that the country encountered a deforestation rate of 1.7 per cent from 2010 to 2015. The country witnessed a 0.9 per cent deforestation rate from 2010 to 2020.
He retold that Myanmar possesses 1.13 million acres of mangrove forests, which is 0.67 per cent of the country’s area in 2020.
Currently, he mentioned that more than 560,000 acres of 41 protected public forests have been established within three years and more than 590,000 acres of 14 natural environmental conservation areas in Myanmar.
The Senior General explained the future plans to grow 3,551.20 acres of multi-purpose plantations and village firewood plantations with the use of more than two million saplings in 809 villages this monsoon, according to a plan of growing a two-acre forest plantation at each village.
He called for increasing forest acreage across the nation to improve climate conditions with greening societies so as to prevent natural disasters.
The Senior General planted a star-flower sapling at the designated place.
SAC Vice-Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win, the Council Secretary, the Joint Secretary, union-level dignitaries, union ministers and guests grew saplings on the campus of Naypyitaw State Academy.
The Senior General viewed round the participation of all in the 2024 monsoon tree-growing ceremony. At today’s ceremony, they planted 1,030 saplings of Gangaw (Mesua ferrea), star-flower, gold mahur and gum-kino.
The Senior General inspected the proposed plans for the convocation hall of Naypyitaw State Academy and viewed a collection of student sentiments for the plan. — MNA/TTA
