The Forestry Bureau yesterday announced that it will hold a series of events throughout next month to celebrate Arbor Day on March 12 and encourage the public to plant trees and protect the nation’s forests.
The events are to be held across the nation and will include the distribution of 100,000 tree sprouts, tree-growing festivals at the bureau’s district offices, concerts in forest parks, hiking acitivities and forestry exhibitions, the bureau said.
Details about the events can be found on the bureau’s Web site.
Forestry Bureau director-general Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生) said the Danong Dafu Forest Recreation Area — established in Hualien County in 2011 — has already attracted more than 120,000 visitors, and the Aogu Forest Recreation Area in Chiayi County has received an Award of Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects for its landscaping.
The bureau said it has promoted community tree planting programs since 2003 and as of last year, 4,459 communities had taken part in the programs.
In addition, it said that another program to encourage people to trade receipts, used batteries, CDs or other recyclable goods for tree sprouts last year collected 708kg in batteries, 114.4kg in used CDs and 33,783 receipts that were donated to social work agencies.
Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) said forestation has always been an important goal for the Forestry Bureau, adding that the agency had received the National Sustainable Development Award last year for its tree-planting efforts.
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