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Majority of tree seedlings transplanted in states surviving
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Addis Ababa, November 22, 2007 (WIC) - The North Gondar Zone Agriculture and Rural Development Office said about 75 percent of the more than 72.6 million tree seedlings transplanted during the last rainy season have taken roots.
Natural Incense and Gum Resources Expert with the department, Solomon Ayele, said during a recent field visit that some 55 million of the seedlings transplanted during the millennium seedling transplantation campaign and through the regular program on over 7,000 hectares of land have survived.
The seedlings sprouted as the local community made the necessary protection and hired 137 guards, he said, adding that transplantation of the seedlings raises the zonal forest coverage from 6.8 percent to 10 percent.
Similarly, the South Wollo Zone Agriculture and Rural Development Department Head, Kebede Yimam, said over 20,000 hectares of degraded land has been covered with tree and gum tree seedlings through the transplantation campaign carried out in the rainy season.
Some 227 million tree and gum tree seedlings have been transplanted during the season, out of which about 10 million are indigenous trees like, podocarpus, cordia, olive, hygenia and juniper, he pointed out.
The trees will be used to produce incense, gum, timber, construction and fuel wood, he said, adding that they would have significant importance as they were transplanted in areas with acute shortage of rain, mountainous and depleted areas.
Meanwhile, more than 300 hectares of land in the Sherkole Refugee camp in Benshangul-Gumuz State have been covered with forest through a recent afforestation drive, according to the state Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau. Forest and Wildlife Development and Protection Team Leader with the Bureau,Bekele Guta, said the forest which covered over 400 hectares of land had been destroyed following the settlement of Sudanese refugees who escaped the civil war a decade ago.
Working in collaboration with the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees, the bureau has managed to reclaim the forestry and re-afforest 300 hectares of land at present, he indicated. |
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