KAYANZA / KIRUNDO December 21st (ABP) – Burundi celebrated National Tree Day on Saturday December 18, 2021 and the provinces of Kayanza and Kirundo joined other provinces in the country to celebrate the day.
In Kayanza province (north), Governor Rémy Cishahayo, along with the heads of provincial services as well as representatives of the defense and security corps, honored the ceremonies with his presence. The related ceremonies took place in the forest of Mount Mukinya, which straddles the provinces of Kayanza and Ngozi. They were marked by the growing of more than 2,500 eucalyptus plants, a check in Kayanza by ABP revealed.
In his welcome speech, the administrator ai of Muhanga commune, Mr. Léonidas Habimana, indicated that this forest of Mount Mukinya has often been destroyed by bush fires, people who go there in search for firewood, as well as inhabitants of the Batwa community who came to live there and practice agricultural activities which, for the administrative authority in Muhanga, caused the wicked destruction of that forest.
Speaking in turn, the governor of Kayanza, Colonel Rémy Cishahayo, stressed that Kayanza province has a large number of forests, but some of them are not sufficiently protected. Here, he pointed out those who cut wood at Mount Mukinya and those who have arrogated to themselves the right to occupy that forest while it is a protected area which is not intended so much for habitation as for agricultural activities.
To that end, he asked the administrators of the communes of Muhanga and Gahombo to get together with their counterpart from Ngozi to see together the modalities for the protection of that reserve and the relocation of the Batwa families who have settled in said mount.
As for the Batwa families residing there today, he recommended moving as quickly as possible and without any conditions.
On the same occasion, Governor Cishahayo urged the inhabitants of Kayanza to scrupulously respect the barrier measures taken against the coronavirus pandemic and to avoid waste during the end-of-year celebrations.
In Kirundo (north), the governor of the province, Mr. Albert Hatungimana, along with executives from the Provincial Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock (BPEAE) and other heads of services, joined on Saturday December 18, 2021 the people from Gitobe commune where 8,000 tree seedlings of two varieties were grown on Bugwana hill, precisely on Gicuma mountain, a check in Kirundo by ABP has revealed.
Governor Hatungimana indicated that the tree is an incomparable wealth, the reason why he asked the people from Gitobe and the whole province to protect those trees already grown, avoiding bush fires, and to watch over those who can draw coal there without permission.
He urged the people of his province to grow many trees on their hills, in their fields and in their households, not to mention fruit trees to cope with climate change. He did not forget to wink at the people that they must always respect the barrier measures taken against COVID-19 these days when we notice the resurgence of the pandemic, and to eradicate prohibited drinks.
Before the trees were grown, they went Shore hill in the same commune of Gitobe to visit the model maize field and fish ponds.