ِAhram Online
Habiba Hamdy , Sunday 8 Jan 2023
Of the total number, 635,000 of them have been planted by the New Urban Communities Authority since the beginning of the current fiscal year, said Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Assem El-Gazzar on Sunday.
The NUCA share of the planted trees comes as 3.17 million trees have been planted across Egypt’s governorates during the first half of FY2022/2023 under the 100 Million Trees presidential initiative, according to Deputy Minister of Local Development Khaled Qassem in a phone interview to an Egyptian media outlet in late December.
The trees have been planted on main roads and axes nationwide, said El-Gazzar during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
Additionally, 395,000 trees have been planted by the Ministry of Environment while the lion’s share have been planted by the Ministry of Local Development, according to previous statements.
The initiative began last summer under the directives of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to combat climate change in-line with the objectives of the 2022 UN Climate Change Summit (COP27) that took place in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.
The initiative aims to increase people’s access to green spaces across the country, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gases and increase overall public health, asserted Madbouly while reviewing El-Gazzar’s report.
It aims to establish a total of 6,600 feddans of new forests and public parks in 9,900 locations across Egypt over the next seven years.
As of November, EGP 3 billion have been allocated to the initiative.
Economically valuable trees are also important he said, noting that the initiative aims to plant trees that produce fruit, like olives, and timber.
Of the three main entities responsible for the initiative, the New Urban Communities Authority plans to plant seven million trees through FY2028/2029, with one million of them to be planted by the end of the current fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Local Development will plant 80 million trees, including 7.7 million in the first year while the Ministry of Environment will plant 13 million trees, including 1.3 million in the first year, according to previous statements.
The current fiscal year runs through the end of June 2023.
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