Government Launches Campaign to Plant One Billion Trees to Preserve Mount Kilimanjaro

 

The government, in collaboration with various forestry stakeholders, has launched a campaign to plant over one billion trees in the northern regions as part of efforts to preserve the ice cap on Mount Kilimanjaro. 

This campaign includes planting more than eight million trees annually in the Kilimanjaro region, providing public education on tree planting, and promoting environmental conservation through radio and television programs, festivals, and various national and international observances.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dunstan Kitandula, made these remarks while responding to a question from Prof. Patrick Alois Ndakidemi in the National Assembly in Dodoma. 

Prof. Ndakidemi had inquired about the short-term, medium-term, and long-term actions the government is taking to address the shrinking glaciers at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Kitandula explained that the primary reason for the decrease in snow on Mount Kilimanjaro is global warming caused by climate change. 

This is exacerbated by human activities such as deforestation, agriculture, fire outbreaks, reduced rainfall, prolonged droughts, and dry winds from the Indian Ocean.

For medium-term strategies, the government is focusing on promoting sustainable land use, enhancing protection in areas surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro, and implementing plans to combat and control mountain fires.

In terms of long-term strategies, the government continues to collaborate with regional and international organizations to implement joint strategies for addressing climate change. 

This includes improving agricultural technologies, increasing water use efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and restoring ecological systems on the mountain and its surrounding areas.