Ethiopia: IGAD names PM Ahmed as “champion” of sustainable tourism
The Ethiopian Prime Minister recently called for a day to plant over 600 million trees across Ethiopia, as part of a commitment to reforest the country, an initiative he himself took part in.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has chosen to nominate the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as a “tourism champion” for a period of three years. The appointment, Ethiopian broadcaster “Fana” reports, is intended to be a recognition of Ahmed’s “visionary leadership” for regional organizers and expects the honoree to play a role in promoting sustainable tourism in the region, driving economic growth and environmental protection. The official IGAD statement emphasizes that the initiative’s goal is also to support cultural preservation for the benefit of all IGAD member states. The regional body has launched the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan for a period of ten years over the period 2024-2034.
Ethiopia’s prime minister recently called for a day to plant more than 600 million trees across Ethiopia as part of his own efforts to reforest the country. “On this historic day, we gathered in Assosa city for a one-day tree planting event in a region known for its natural abundance, mineral wealth and fertile lands,” he was quoted as saying by state-run Fana news agency. Abiy Ahmed noted that by the end of the day, Ethiopia would have planted about 40 billion saplings since the launch of the Green Legacy program in 2019, which plans to plant more than 7,5 billion trees across the country. The project is part of efforts to achieve the goals set to combat global climate change.
While the concrete effects of the campaign are still difficult to quantify, the media impact has been significant. Initiatives of this kind have already been implemented by the Ahmed government. On July 17 last year, over 566 million trees were planted in Ethiopia, exceeding the initial target of 500 million seedlings set for that day. The operation saw a great mobilization by citizens and considerable popular enthusiasm. Schools, churches, associations, businesses mobilized hundreds of people, an event that was promoted by the authorities as a national event and was coordinated at a capillary level in the individual kebeles – the neighborhoods and the smallest Ethiopian administrative hamlets –, in support of the forestry organizations that upstream collected and distributed the plants initially prepared in the nurseries. In particular, native species were chosen for the operation – Acacia abyssinica, Abyssinian juniper, Cordia africana –, as an alternative to previous reforestation campaigns, which for about a century had focused on eucalyptus trees.
Source: Nova News
