The Department of State for Forestry and the Participatory Integration and Watershed Project (PIWAMP), last Sunday embarked on a tree planting exercise on a 2.8 hectre land at Bujinga Village in Foni Kansala district.

The initiative was meant to protect the village from erosion and other environmental hazards that might lead to poor harvest, since the village is on the watershed side. Over 3000 different types of plants including gmelina, eucalyptus and bamboo trees were planted during the exercise.

Speaking at the ceremony, Jato Sillah, director of Forestry outlined the importance of trees. He noted that without trees, farm cultivation would not be possible. Director Sillah added that the government of The Gambia has an initiative to plant one million trees annually. According to him, trees contribute a lot to food security. He then urged all Gambians to embrace such initiatives, noting that "we must go back to the land and try to live with nature."

He thanked the people of Bujinga Village for taking part in the planting exercise. 
Musa Bayo, PIWAMP plant co-ordinator, said the idea of planting trees at Bujinga was to protect the village from runoff erosion. According to him, the whole program is participatory.

For his part, Abdoulie A Sanneh, regional forestry officer, Western Region, called for collaborative efforts to protect the forests. According to him, there was a need to protect the Bujinga forest because it is rich with native species that could be useful to mankind.

He urged the people of Bujinga to take good care of the trees, noting the fact that in the earliest possible time, they will grow into trees that would be a source of not only firewood for them but income as well. He added that the tree would serve as wind breakers to protect the community's rice field and all the other components of the forest park.

According to him, his office has also engaged in similar activities at Mayok Senior School and Sangajor - Mayok road, where many different species of trees were planted.

He then thanked PIWAMP and the management and staff of Forestry, as well as the community of Bujinga for their participation in the tree planting exercise.