Syria plans to plant 40 million fruit and forest trees in 2001, as well as nine million fodder trees, as part of an agriculture ministry program.
"A national afforestation campaign" will begin simultaneously in all regions for Syria's traditional national tree-planting day, celebrated on the last Thursday of the year, television said.
In the central town of Homs, 370 acres (150 hectares) of land have already been cleared to prepare for the plantation of 500,000 forest trees, and in the northeastern town of Hassakeh, more than 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) will be planted, the official daily Ath-Thawra said.
According to official statistics, Syria has 2.3 million fruit trees over an area of 2,000 acres, producing 28 million tons of fruit each year.
Some 55 percent of Syria is desert and the government has tried to boost its afforestation program over the past few years -- DAMASCUS (AFP)
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