Tanzanian President Says Plant Trees to Save Forests
12/29/98
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Title: Tanzanian President Says Plant Trees to Save Forests
Source: Agence France-Presse
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 12/29/98
DAR ES SALAAM, Dec 29 (AFP) - Tanzania's President Benjamin Mkapa has
ordered that five trees be planted for every one that is cut to preserve
the east African country's forests.
Addressing a meeting of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM -
Revolutionary Party) youth wing at Dodoma on Monday, Mkapa said
concerted effort must be made to protect the environment, Radio
Tanzania reported.
He said people who caused environmental degradation were "actually digging
a grave for the entire society" and must be prosecuted.
The rate at which people were cutting trees was alarming, the president
said, and warned that many parts of the country could turn into a desert
if the trend was not arrested.
Environmentalists and forestry officials say that at least 400,000
hectares of forest are felled in Tanzania every year.
Mkapa said water springs were also disappearing and urged that efforts be
made to restore such resources, which dried up after trees in the
surroundings were cut.
He recommended the deployment of traditional defence groups, known as
sungusungu, in the protection of the environment and especially to take to
task people who recklessly felled trees.