Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: 26 Million Trees Planted

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CARACAS, Jul 30 2007 (IPS) - The Tree Mission, which was launched in Venezuela a year ago as a five-year plan to plant 100 million trees on 150,000 hectares at the heads of the tributaries of the Orinoco River, has already completed a quarter of its target, reported the authorities. “There are 1,900 conservationist committees, with 18,000 participants, who worked on 1,500 reforestation projects and have planted 26,567,000 trees,” deputy environment minister Miguel Rodríguez told Tierramérica. The budget for the first year of the Tree Mission was 23 million dollars.

Half of the south and southeast of Venezuela is covered by forests, but the tree-covered area shrinks by about 140,000 hectares a year, according to sources from the Environment Ministry, although environmental groups put the annual deforestation rate at more than 240,000 hectares.