The National 3 Million Trees Planting Campaign 2022 was officially launched on Wednesday with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment taking the lead. 

The Minister for Natural Resources Resources and Environment, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, launched the new campaign during a ceremony to mark the World Commemoration Day for water, forests, wetlands and meteorology.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “sustainable action for forests, water, wetlands and meteorology for people and nature" with the ceremony held at the TATTE building. 

The commemoration of the day also coincided with the launching of the WASH sector annual performance review reports as well as the sustainable energy lighting program and upland water catchment school awareness campaign.  

Toeolesulusulu said the theme for the day emphasised the importance of ecosystems for the survival of humanity and emphasised the need for a sustainable future through conservation and sustainable use of Samoa's natural resources.

He said the day also promotes the significance of multi-hazard early warning systems for informed decisions, in order to safeguard Samoa from meteorological and hydrological hazards.

“This is especially critical now as we look to mitigate solutions to help us with our COVID-19 recovery pathway towards empowering communities, building resilience and inspiring growth,” he said.

Revealing that there is a decline in Samoa’s major forests and mainland areas, Toeolesulusulu said initiatives such as tree planting campaigns, sustainable land use, integrative catchment management programmes, development, and development of early warning systems will be implemented to address these challenges. 

He said the new tree planting campaign will focus on working with all constituencies and civil societies, prioritising reforestation of native and endangered trees and planting for commercial use timber as well as long term crops.   

The 3 Million Tree Planting Campaign is an extension of the 2 million and 1 million Tree Planting Campaigns. 

It is part of a national initiative to help advance the cause for sustainable forest management, rehabilitation of degraded land area, preservation of water resources, protection of biological diversity whilst contributing to mitigating the impact of climate change.

ThE national campaign is coordinated by the M.N.R.E. through its Forestry Division working in partnership with its various key stakeholders.

Earlier this month, the Ministry's Forestry Division worked together with district representatives to discuss the $1million grant offered annually by the Government for national forests replanting, supporting the National 3 Million Tree Planting Campaign from 2022-2028.