Mauritania's positive tree campaign

Trees being planted In the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, the third phase of the planting campaign was launched to protect Nouakchott from sand encroachment. The campaign was launched in early 2010, while the Prime Minister at that time, Molaye Ould Mohamed Lagdtaf, supervised the campaign. He planted a tree after which cabinet members, NGO members and volunteers began planting around 400 trees over 270 hectares in area, in the north of Nouakchott.
The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Amidi Kamra, asserted that minister sectors were ready according to a scheduled plan on Monday. Their enthusiasm for planting was up to the desired level which would enable planting the required numbers of trees. He added that water and simple tools necessary for planting and irrigation were also available in the suitable amounts.
The technical committee at the Ministry of Environment explained the details of the project to the minister mentioning the specified number of trees, the area to be planted in addition to the methods followed in the process. They also said that the 2012 planting campaign would continue till November.
The project, mainly organised by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, will see participation from the Prime Minister’s office, the General Secretariat of the presidency, the Ministry of Interior and Decentralisation, the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing, Urban Affairs and Soil Reclamation and the Ministry of Water and Sewage in addition to NGOs and a number of Nouakchott inhabitants.
The department in charge of human rights, humanitarian work and relations with civil society will also participate in the planting campaign. The Head of the Human Rights agency, Mohamed Abdullah Ould Khatra said during the plantation that the process comes within Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz’s policy of protecting Nouakchott against sand encroachment and the danger of tidal expansion.
The first phase of the project started last Friday as 6,400 trees were planted over 16 hectare, divided among many ministries and organisations. Minister of Environment affirmed, however, that next Friday will see the resumption of planting trees by the Ministries of Culture, Health, Islamic Affairs, Basic Education, Fishing, and Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
To counter sand encroachment, Mauritanian government signed an agreement three years ago with several Arab countries to contribute in establishing a green belt that passes through Mauritania to Sudan to limit the sand encroachment. The project, which many observers view as having great benefits, continues on its way of achievement.