Tripoli, 31 May 2013:
Following fast on the devastating forest fire earlier this week in the Jebel Nafusa nature reserve near Emsalata, a reforestation campaign started in the area this morning.
People from the neighbouring area joined in a tree planting campaign along with several civil society organisations from Emsalata including local Boy Scouts, according to Emsalata Media Centre. These were supported by Scouts from Khoms.
The programme, “For Every Burnt Tree, Plant Ten”, was organised by the local Culture and Civil Society Office with the support of local Congress member Hammed Muammar Erwaimi and the local council.
The Minister of Culture, Habib Mohammed Al-Amin, joined in the tree planting campaign which was also supported by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In a speech at the opening of the reforestation campaign, the Minister said that fires were the work of criminals intent on destabilising security and stability in Libya. He had come to Ensalata to see for himself what had been done in the reserve by “criminals and outlaws . . . to the vegetation and natural resources that abound in our country”.
He appealed to local officials to keep an eye out for arsonists those out to undermine and destroy Libya’s progress.
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