Kigali — The Ministry of Lands, Environment, Forestry, Water and Mines plans to plant at least 100 million trees during the annual tree-planting campaign that started yesterday.

According State Minister for Lands and Environment, Patricia Hajabakiga, the campaign runs through this month to March next year and will become annual. "This year will be marked by a special one week of tree planting that will start from Nyabihu district in the Western Province and will be concluded in Kamonyi district (Southern Province)," Hajabakiga said yesterday.

Nyabihu District was recently devastated by heavy rains which killed fifteen people and displaced thousands. Officials largely attributed the heavy rains to the destruction of Gishwati forest by farmers who wanted to use the land for cultivation. Formerly covering 21,000 hectares before 1981, Gishwati Forest, located in north-western part of the country had been reduced to only 600 hectares by 2002. Hajabakiga's announcement came as several districts commemorated the National Tree-planting Day yesterday in different designated places while ministries and other institutions also went to different places to plant trees.

The minister urged Rwandans to plant trees and maintain those that have already been planted and replace those that get old.