LUSAKA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Friday launched a tree planting exercise aimed at replenishing the country's fast disappearing forests.
Lungu, upon launching the 2017 National Tree Planting exercise in Lusaka, the country's capital, expressed concern over the levels of deforestation and urged the ministry responsible for managing natural resources to ensure timber and other forestry-related activities be conducted in accordance with law.
The country, he said, lost 27,000 hectares of forest between 2000 and 2014.
Zambia is covered by 44.7 million hectares of forests, or 60 percent of the country's land.
The Zambian leader went on to state the importance of adding value to the country's forests in order to create more jobs.
Jean Kapata, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said the ministry has raised over 500,000 seedlings of different tree species across the country.
The government, she said, seeks to plant 20,000 hectares of trees annually in each of the country's 103 districts.
