Warsaw — Benin's minister for environment and forestry, Mr. Raphael Edou, says his country will look towards every relevant regional institution, including the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), to realize President Yayi Boni's dream of getting each souls in his country plant a tree each year.

Mr. Edou told Ms. Fatima Denton, Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and Officer in Charge of the Special Initiatives Division at the ECA that the project duped "10 million souls 10 million tree" which is a special initiative by Benin's leader was launched last July and has already seen 4 million trees plant across the country.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate change conference which opened in Warsaw last week, Mr. Edou and Ms. Denton discussed possible cooperation avenues between the ECA and Benin with a view to securing technical assistance from the former through its climate policy centre.

As from next year the tree renewal process will continue again and repeated each year for as long as there are demands for forest products, the minister revealed.

Mr. Edou explained how dear the project is to President Boni, saying seedling farms had been opened up in all the 546 council areas of Benin and that the private sector is taking an active part in the innovative initiative.

"No logging company can be issued an authorization in Benin unless it shows proof of participation in the project", he said.

He said that Benin had sent a formal request for technical assistance to ECA. Ms. Denton assured him of the commitment of the Mr. Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of ECA to concrete actions on sustainable development in general and climate change in particular.