Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Elsayed Elkosayer has announced that the ministry planted 1.3 million trees in several governorates during the first phase of 100 Million Trees initiative launched by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. The governorates included Qalyubeya, Gharbeya, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, and New Valley. The Minister of Agriculture said – in a statement on Friday – that this comes within the framework of the cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Local Development, where the ministry, through the Central Administration of Arboriculture, the Desert Research Center, the Agricultural Research Center, and the Comprehensive Development Projects Agency, planted 700,000 trees in some arboreal forests and the areas surrounding nurseries. He added that the initiative of the President receives great attention from the Egyptian state, through the expansion of afforestation, due to its many environmental, aesthetic and economic benefits, taking into account planting trees in appropriate places and in appropriate numbers that will play their aesthetic and environmental role and reduce the negative effects of climate change. The Minister of Agriculture stated that the initiative also aims to double the per capita share of green spaces nationwide, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gases, achieve maximum economic benefit from trees, improve the public health of citizens, and achieve sustainable agricultural development. Alaa Azouz, Head of the Agricultural Extension Sector at the ministry, said that the participants during the regional workshop organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations "FAO" on planning for forest management in the Near East region, praised the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture in implementing the "100 million trees" initiative. He pointed out that it can be used to be a useful investment that contributes to reducing climate change. He added that the return and positive effects expected from the implementation of the initiative contribute to reducing the effect of global warming by getting rid of carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen, reducing the air temperature, purifying the air and improving its quality, while contributing to a decrease in soil erosion, as well as preserving biological diversity of birds ,insects and animals, which leads to improving the biodiversity of agricultural areas, as well as preventing water runoff. Azouz indicated that several types of woody and ornamental trees, as well as fruit and nectar, were planted.
