Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. Countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.

The theme of the International Day of Forests for 2021 is "Forest restoration: a path to recovery and well-being." The restoration and sustainable management of forests help address the climate-change and biodiversity crises. It also produces goods and services for sustainable development, fostering an economic activity that creates jobs and improves lives. This year’s theme fits into the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a call for the protection and revival of ecosystems around the world.

This year, in honor of the International Day of Forests, a large-scale tree planting campaign was carried out within the framework of the GEF / FAO project “Sustainable management of forests in mountain and valley areas of Uzbekistan”. The work was carried out on four pilot areas of the project - these are the territories of Kitab, Dekhkanabad, Pap and Syrdarya state forestries. More than 120 hectares of field protective forest belts, more than 10 hectares of fuel wood plantations and 428 hectares of forest were created. About 20 thousand seedlings of decorative and forest trees have been planted along the streets and makhallas. 50 thousand seedlings of fruit and decorative trees were donated to local population for landscaping their personal plots. In total, about 5 thousand people took part in this large-scale afforestation campaign.

«Every tree counts. Even small-scale planting and restoration projects can have big impacts», - says Sherzod Umarov, Officer in Charge for FAO Representation in Uzbekistan. – «Forests provide health benefits for everyone, such as fresh air, nutritious foods, clean water, and space for recreation. The restoration and sustainable management of forests will address the climate-change and biodiversity crises simultaneously while producing goods and services needed for sustainable development».

There is important fact that since 2017 fundamental transformations have taken place in the forestry system of Uzbekistan, more than 10 Resolutions of the President and the Government were adopted on improving the activities of the State Forestry Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

«The area of forest lands increased from 9.3 to 12.1 million hectares. New forestry organizations have been created, large-scale work is being actively carried out to create forests in desert and saline areas. For example, saxaul plantations with an area of more than 1 million 570 thousand hectares have been created on the drained bottom of the Aral Sea. More than 700 thousand hectares of land from the State Forest Fund were leased out through public-private partnership for the development of agroforestry and the cultivation of medicinal plants », - says Olimjon Khakimov, first deputy of Chairman of the State Committee on Forestry of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Investing in ecosystem restoration will help in healing individuals, communities and the environment. Done right, forest restoration is a key nature-based solution for building back better and achieving the future we want.