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Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | The Ministry of Water and Environment in partnership with Uganda Breweries Limited, American Tower Corporation (ATC) Uganda, Stanbic Bank Uganda and MTN Foundation has for the second year running announced a Running out of Trees (ROOT) Initiative which targets to plant 40 million trees countrywide.
The tree planting drive, targeted at the restoration of the indigenous tree and fruit species across the entire landscapes of Uganda will take place on May 17 on the National Tree Planting Day.
The ministry launched a National Tree Planting Campaign in 2020 built around engaging local stakeholders in attaining national restoration goals with the aim to rally Ugandans into action through increased public awareness and participation, especially the private sector in the conservation and protection of indigenous tree species.
The campaign will address the ongoing loss and conversion of primary and secondary natural forests.
The companies said on March 21, the move further aims at fast tracking national restoration goals and commitments that include; restoration of 2.5million hectares of degraded landscapes by 2030 under the Bonn Challenge; Vision 2040 aimed at restoring forest cover of total land area to 24% among others.
The Minister of Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris, says 65% of forest degradation takes place on private land and on several occasions the land owners choose land use change from forestry to agriculture, industry or settlement over biodiversity conservation.
National deforestation rates stand at 2% annually with an average of 122,000 hectares lost every year yet 6% of the GDP of Uganda and more than 90% of the population depends directly on forest for their energy needs.
The ROOT Campaign was launched in February 2020 as a 5-year project geared towards soliciting commitments from the private sector to support government’s initiative to restore forest cover.
Alvin Mbugua, the managing director of Uganda Breweries Limited, Anne Juuko, the chief executive officer of Stanbic Bank said, they would support the campaign under their corporate social responsibility function.
