March 21, marked as ”International 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 way to commemorate those that misplaced their lives within the latest earthquakes that rocked the southeastern a part of the nation, the final supervisor of the forestry directorate famous Monday.
Türkiye, which general locations important 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 Agency (AA).
Noting that since 1973 the week during which International Day of Forests has been celebrated as “Forest Week,” Karacabey acknowledged that varied actions are organized yearly for tree planting periods through the week; and this yr, because of the earthquakes, afforestation might be carried out in a mournful ambiance.
Expressing that they’ll 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 help, it was determined to mark the event by establishing “February 6 Earthquake Martyrs Forest” in 81 provinces throughout the nation concurrently.
“People 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.
”While every of our residents exhibited his/her finest 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 good day or a bad day,” Karacabey acknowledged that Türkiye ranks first in Europe and fourth on the earth in terms of the growing forest cowl and afforestation.
Afforestation efforts
He additionally famous that through 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 growth and enlargement, and famous that almost all saplings are used for combating erosion in addition to enhancing degraded forest areas.
Pointing out that they’re decisive in assembly afforestation targets set for 2023, Karacabey stated that by the tip of 2023, the purpose of planting 7 billion seedlings, equaling the world’s inhabitants, was set by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who’s a robust advocate of afforestation and took part in a number of sapling actions personally and declared Nov. 11 as National Forestation Day, as a part of the nation’s dedication to develop forest cowl at a time of worldwide 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 could have achieved the 7 billion goal set for us by our Presidency and should even exceed the goal,” Karacabey famous.
Fight towards forest fires
Karacabey underscored that the combat towards 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 give attention to the afforestation of areas that have been gutted through the fires.
“We skilled one of many largest fires in historical past in 2021. As a outcome, 139,500 hectares of land have been broken,” he famous.
Declaring that a few 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.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
