Forest Department targets planting of nearly to 400,000 trees this year

By Admin 30 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
30 June 2023, Sittwe

The Arakan State Forest Department will grow 390,000 perennial trees in the current monsoon season across the state’s 17 townships.

Trees including ironwood, padauk and coconut will be planted, said assistant director U Aye Min Naing of the Arakan State Forest Department.

“We will grow trees for the greening of Arakan State, and to encourage people to value forests and trees,” he told DMG.

Around 200,000 trees have been grown so far in Sittwe, Buthidaung, Ann and Thandwe townships, he said. 

The Arakan State Forest Department and other governments planted over 2,000 trees on the campus of Sittwe University on Friday morning.

A total of 1,250 trees including teak, ironwood, neem and Spanish cherry were grown on the compound of the Government Technical Institute in Buthidaung Township on June 26.

Departmental personnel also planted around 600 trees including ironwood, padauk, lebbek, Ceylon ironwood within the compound of the Kantkaw Tahtaung Pagoda in Ann Township on June 27.

While authorities grow trees annually in the rainy season, they make little effort to take care of the young trees they grow, said environmentalists.

“More trees have been grown this year. Some organisations grew trees in towns and rural villages. But they should do more to take care of the trees grown rather than planting new trees,” said Ko Myat Min Soe of the Sein Lan Si environmental conservation group based in Arakan State.

Sein Lan Si said it plans to grow around 100,000 trees in the current rainy season.

There is an urgent need to grow more trees in the current rainy season as many trees were blown down by Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall over Arakan State on May 14.

“It is easy to plant a tree, but it is difficult to make sure it grows big. There is a need to weed if you plant a tree and fence it properly so that it can’t be destroyed by animals,” said chairperson Ma Aye Myat Maw of the Apaukwa Youths Organization, based in Pauktaw Township.

Around 400,000 trees were grown in Arakan State last year, and around 80 percent of them thrived, according to the Arakan State Forest Department. The department says it grows around 400,000 trees annually.