The President, Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konrote, will of­ficiate at the International Day of Forests celebrations on March 21 at the Sigatoka Valley Secondary School.

This was confirmed by Minister for Forestry Osea Naiqamu, who launched International Day of For­ests at Vunayasi District School, Dratabu Village, Nadi, on Friday.

The theme for this year is Forests and Education.

“There are many reasons to cel­ebrate forests and I invite you all to educate yourself on the importance of forests,” Mr Naiqamu said.

“Forests help to keep the air, soil, water and people healthy.

“They have a vital role to play in some of the biggest challenges we face today, such as addressing cli­mate change, eliminating hunger and keeping urban and rural com­munities sustainable.

“Forests will be more important than ever as the world population climbs to 8.5 billion by 2030.”

He added that no one was never too young to learn about trees.

“Helping children connect with nature creates future generations ‘appreciation of the benefits of trees and forests and the need to manage them sustainably.”

“I am sure that for all of you chil­dren, forests have in one way or an­other been a direct influence on the provision of food, wood and shelter in your everyday lives.

“By investing in forestry educa­tion at all levels, Fiji can help en­sure there are scientists, policy makers, foresters and local commu­nities working to halt deforestation and restore degraded landscapes.

“In turn, healthy forests will help us to achieve many of the Sustain­able Development Goals.

“As well as local initiatives like the Reducing Emissions from De­forestation and Forest Degradation through the provision of alterna­tive livelihoods whereby our com­munities are supported.

“While at the same time protect­ing and conserving our forests,” he said.

Mr Naiqamu reiterated Govern­ment’s efforts to plant Four Million Trees in Four Years.

The initiative is part of Govern­ment’s commitment to the nation.

It is part of Government’s respon­sibility to encourage the sustain­able management of our natural resources.

In the lead-up to the event, forest­ry officers will be visiting selected schools around the country to car­ry out awareness and tree-planting activities.

Edited by Percy Kean