By Our Reporter
Uganda Breweries Limited has handed over a contribution of UGX 330 Million to the Ministry of Water and Environment towards the 2021 National Tree Planting Campaign dubbed Running Out of Trees (ROOTs).
The funds will go towards national mobilization of public and private sectors to plant 40 Million Trees Countrywide by May 17th, a day gazetted as the National Tree Planting Day.
Speaking at the Cheque Handover Ceremony, Juliana Kagwa, the Corporate Relations Director of Uganda Breweries Limited noted that, “The forest cover is depleting at the rate of 122,000 hectares per year, and Uganda has 4.9m hectares. If we do nothing, in 40 short years, Uganda will be left bare. We must therefore put in motion the process and tools necessary to ensure that this beautiful, green country of ours continues to sustain our livelihoods as we pledge to sustain its survival.”
The ROOTs campaign is an initiative by the Ministry of Water and Environment in collaboration with private sector players whose main objective is to work together to fast track National Forest Restoration Goals and Commitments which includes a plan to restore 2.5 Million hectares of degraded landscapes by 2030.
The Permanent Secretary, Minister for Water and Environment Alfred Okot Okidi reiterated the need for private companies to join public and government projects that have national reach and impact instead of leaving the burden to Government alone.
“This contribution is a good boost to our fundraising campaign that will see us physically visit many other corporate companies to join this initiative. The task before us is a great one, planting 40 million trees is no mean feat. We know that these are challenging times for business, but I would like to call upon other corporate companies to dig deep into their pockets and rise to the occasion to make this edition of Running out of Trees a success.” Alfred Okot Okidi said.
This year’s symbolic run will be held in observance of the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). It will be a short 10Km Run on March 21, 2021 (International Day of Forests), starting from Parliament through Nakasero and Kololo.
The event will host participants not exceeding 200 people drawn from Heads of Corporate Companies, Diplomatic Missions, Government and Cultural Institutions.
The Running out of Trees campaign is a 5-year project seeking to plant over 200 million trees in that period. Uganda Breweries Limited, among others, shall be leading an effort to plant 40 million trees in 8 hours every year on National Tree Planting Day. This is the second year running that Uganda Breweries is spearheading this partnership with the Ministry of Water and Environment.
