Corporate companies plant 1 million trees to commemorate National Tree Planting Day

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Water and Environment in partnership with private sector stakeholders including; Uganda Breweries Limited, Stanbic Bank Uganda, Total Energies EP Uganda, Development and civil society partners, have once again held a national tree planting day. As part of the ROOTS – Running Out of Trees campaign,one  million trees were planted at St Francis Xavier, Bweya Kajjansi which is along the shores of Lake Victoria, a major water catchment area in Uganda.

The tree planting exercise that was presided over by the Minister of Water and Environment  Sam Cheptoris who represented President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ,attracted other high-level dignitaries like the European Union (EU) Ambassador Jan Sadek and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water and Environment Alfred Okot Okidi.

Cheptoris highlighted this year’s theme ‘Conserving Uganda’s tree species diversity through the establishment of tree seed banks’ which serves to remind the public of the bio-diversity and unique heritage that provides food, medicine, building materials, fiber and economic support.

He pledged to sustain the mobilization of private, public, civil society, and development partners under the ROOTS umbrella, as a means of collectively tackling the current climate change issues.

The ROOTs campaign, which seeks to plant trees in 5 years, is geared towards soliciting commitments from the private sector to support the Government’s initiative to restore forest cover in Uganda. By the end of 2025 over 40 million trees will have been planted and thus seizing an estimated 15 million tons of carbon.