Syria speaks of progress in reforestation at UN conference in Damascus

Syrian Agriculture Minister Asaad Mustafa on Sunday opened the 13th meeting of the Near East Forests Commission, organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's regional bureau in collaboration with the Syrian Agriculture Ministry.

In an inaugural speech, the Syrian minister stressed the need to protect the environment, safeguard the woods, fight desertification and find modern methods to manage forests. He said that Syria is working to reforest certain areas, noting that a law in this respect was released in 1994.

He stated that Syria is planting an area of 24,000 hectares with bushes and produces 30 million saplings annually. He said Syria had embarked on several measures to fight forest fires and established six natural reserves and a project to organize forests.

He indicated Syria's readiness to maintain further cooperation with Arab and international organizations in order to improve performance in the agricultural sector. He noted several Syrian projects completed in collaboration with the FAO in the fields of afforestation, protection of environment, food security and analysis of data related to forest fires.

The meeting, which will proceed until December 9, will discuss topics on the state of forests in general.