March 21, marked as ”Worldwide Day of Forests,” can be accepted as the start of spring within the Northern Hemisphere. This yr it’s being marked with low-key actions in Türkiye, in a fashion to commemorate those that misplaced their lives within the current earthquakes that rocked the southeastern a part of the nation, the final supervisor of the forestry directorate famous Monday.
Türkiye, which total locations vital significance on reforestation, marked this yr’s day of forests by establishing a “February 6 Earthquake Martyrs Forest” in 81 provinces, Bekir Karacabey, the final supervisor of the Forestry Directorate, stated in his interview with Anadolu Company (AA).
Noting that since 1973 the week through which Worldwide Day of Forests has been celebrated as “Forest Week,” Karacabey said that varied actions are organized yearly for tree planting classes throughout the week; and this yr, because of the earthquakes, afforestation will likely be carried out in a mournful ambiance.
Expressing that they are going to perform sampling works on Tuesday on behalf of the residents who have been misplaced within the earthquakes, Karacabey defined that after conveying the group’s request to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirişci and receiving his assist, it was determined to mark the event by establishing “February 6 Earthquake Martyrs Forest” in 81 provinces throughout the nation concurrently.
“Individuals from all professions misplaced their lives in that earthquake. We invite all our residents, from all professions, to the sapling planting actions in these provinces on behalf of them,” Karacabey stated.
”Whereas every of our residents exhibited his/her greatest effort and contribution on this catastrophe, many aids got here from overseas,” he added. ”We invite the ambassadors of those international locations to hitch our actions and ask them to plant their samplings in these areas,” Karacabey emphasised.
Elaborating on the nation’s ongoing reforestation efforts no matter whether or not its “a very good day or a nasty day,” Karacabey said that Türkiye ranks first in Europe and fourth on this planet in relation to the rising forest cowl and afforestation.
Afforestation efforts
He additionally famous that throughout the course of final yr, greater than 647 million saplings have been planted throughout the nation along with particular afforestation inside the scope of forest improvement and growth, and famous that the majority saplings are used for combating erosion in addition to enhancing degraded forest areas.
Declaring that they’re decisive in assembly afforestation targets set for 2023, Karacabey stated that by the top of 2023, the purpose of planting 7 billion seedlings, equaling the world’s inhabitants, was set by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who’s a powerful advocate of afforestation and took part in a number of sapling actions personally and declared Nov. 11 as Nationwide Forestation Day, as a part of the nation’s willpower to increase forest cowl at a time of world local weather change.
”By planting 6.5 billion saplings in 2021, 647 million final yr, and with 600 million saplings, which we aimed (to plant) all through this yr, we may have achieved the 7 billion goal set for us by our Presidency and should even exceed the goal,” Karacabey famous.
Battle in opposition to forest fires
Karacabey underscored that the battle in opposition to forest fires, which broke out owing to numerous causes throughout the nation in earlier years, continues strongly, emphasizing that the primary purpose of the group is to deal with the afforestation of areas that have been gutted throughout the fires.
“We skilled one of many greatest fires in historical past in 2021. Consequently, 139,500 hectares of land have been broken,” he famous.
Declaring that a number of the areas have been unusable and insufficient for afforestation, Karacabey indicated that on an space encompassing roughly 108,000 hectares, some 25 million saplings have been planted since.