The Ministry of Environment and Protection of Nature, MINEF, in partnership with the Central African Regional Programme for Environment, CARPE, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, the National Agency for Forest Development, ANAFOR and Doume Council in the Upper Nyong Division of East Region, will this Saturday June 4 in Doume launch this year’s World Environment Day with a tree planting exercise and public discussion on mitigating the impact of deforestation and climate change on local communities.

According to a press release from CARPE’s Regional Office for Central Africa, the activities that will be jointly presided by the Divisional Delegates for Forest and Widlife, and Environment and Protection of Nature for Upper Nyong, will also be attended by the Divisional Officer for Doume and about 50 community people who are expected to take part in the planting of 500 trees provided by the Council. The objective, according to organisers, is to join Doume Council in its efforts to sensitise the public on reforestation.

The choice of Doume, explained Stanislas Bila, Programme Officer for CARPE Cameroon, is because the area had long been affected deforestation through logging. The Council has for some time been involved in a reforestation drive with the technical support of ANAFOR. The public discussion will therefore seek to know what local strategies community people propose for coping with the negative impact of loss of forest cover, vital tree species, Non-Timber Forest Products, NTFPs and fuel wood.

The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is “Forests: Nature At Your Service.” The United Nations declared 2011 “The International Year of Forest.” The day proper comes up on Sunday June 5.