PHNOM PENH: The Ministry of Environment is going to organise a Seedling Promotion and Distribution Exhibition in July in front of the ministry to boost tree planting among the public.

Seedlings will be displayed and distributed for free for citizens to cultivate at home, school, pagoda, public and private places during the exhibition to start from July 10, 2024, under the theme “Green Sprouts,” said the Ministry of Environment in a recent news release.

According to H.E. Dr. Eang Sophalleth, Minister of Environment, the organisation of this event is in response to the policy programme of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the 7th legislature of the National Assembly led by Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the implementation of the Environmental Strategy 2023-2028, which focuses on three key angles: clean, green, and sustainable, to meet the needs of Cambodia's real situation and global environmental trends for the protection, conservation, and preservation of biodiversity and natural resources in protected areas to be effective and sustainable.

This will drive Cambodia towards becoming a carbon-neutral country and achieving 60 percent forest cover by 2050, he underlined.

H.E. Dr. Eang Sophalleth confirmed that the Ministry of Environment, through all provincial and municipal Departments of Environment, has already planted more than 1 million seedlings of all kinds, ready to distribute, along with tens of thousands more for the Cambodian Green Campaign, which aims to plant at least 1 million seedlings from 2024.

H.E. Minister also promoted reforestation in the degraded areas of protected areas and encouraged all leaders, civil servants, and park rangers to continue striving for better implementation of their roles, responsibilities, and duties by strengthening and expanding cooperation with relevant partners, such as ministries, sub-national administrative institutions, development partners, the private sector, and the local community, for the implementation of environmental sector activities and the Environmental Strategy 2023-2028, especially in natural resource management and biodiversity conservation, to achieve great success for the Royal Government of Cambodia and society.