The 2022-2026 National Afforestation Programme aims the future of protecting the natural environment of our country and offers hope for future generations to live in a less polluted environment, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca stated, told Agerpres.
The head of the Executive participated on Friday, at the Victoria Palace, in the signing of a new series of funding contracts for the establishment of some Collection Centers through volunteering and the launching of the 2022-2026 National Afforestation Programme, alongside Environment Minister Tanczos Barna.
"It is a very important day for the demarches carried out at the Government level in respect to starting the most ample afforestation campaign. We are talking about a campaign which is funded through the PNRR [the National Recovery and Resilience Plan] and a total area of approximately 56,700 hectares, for the next years until 2026. (...) It is a moment through which we are launching a programme which aims the future of protecting the natural environment of our country, a programme that offers hope for future generations to live in a less polluted environment, a cleaner environment, an environment in which biodiversity will be better strengthened and developed, and we hope that those counties where the red color is predominant, especially in the south and east of the country, to change color through the implementation of these programmes and move toward that green which we can see in the areas and counties which are not confronted with such problems," PM Ciuca stated.
He mentioned that Romania's areas covered by forests represent approximately 20 percent of the territory's surface, while in Europe the total area covered by forests is approximately 39 percent.
"As such, we have the duty, as we have committed, to use all resources at our disposal, financial resources and, especially, human resources, because here there is also a matter of will and responsibility for future generations in respect to protecting environment and biodiversity. For this, we have approximately 1.1 billion EUR in the Recovery and Resilience Plan and all this money must be used wisely, so that we leave a cleaner environment to future generations," Ciuca stated.
He added that this campaign represents an addition to the other governmental measures in the area of environment protection, namely the measures established through the Local Fund and the Renovation Wave.
The PM also mentioned the signing on Friday, in Geneva, of a new series of contracts for the setting up of some Collection Centers through volunteering, underscoring that the central authorities committed to establish 565 such centers at national level.
The standard amount earmarked for these contracts is 3.83 million RON for each UTA (administrative-territorial unit) participating in the programme.
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