“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.”    Undoubtedly, a single tree can provide a man with all the necessary materials to sustain life.    Belize is blessed to have approximately 62.7% of its land mass under forest cover.    These forests provide us with a multiple of goods and services that go unnoticed such as, habitat protection, biodiversity, food, medicine, clean air and water.

In an effort to conserve our dwindling resources for future generations, the international environmental community is observing 2011 as the International Year of Forests under the theme “Celebrating Forests for People.” The theme for the International Year of Forests was developed to celebrate the central role of people in the conservation, sustainable management and development of forests.    Countries across the globe are currently engaged in activities to highlight the importance of forests to livelihoods while recognizing that forests contribute immensely to a country’s development.

The Forest Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment in commemoration of the Year of Forest and World Forest Day has launched a series of activities to underscore the importance and benefits of mainstreaming sustainable forest management principles in the management of forests.

In honour of World Forest Day, which is observed on March 21st of each year and to launch the International Year of Forests, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Honourable Gaspar Vega, HOD’s in the Forest Department and Department of Environment, other distinguished guests and the Environmental Club of Bishop Martin High School participated in a Tree Planting Exercise in the Louisiana Palmar Nature Park.

Honourable Vega also handed over mahogany and cedar seedlings to licensees working in the Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve. These seedlings were distributed to stakeholders whose licensed areas were most affected by the hurricanes that have hit Belize within the last decade. This is the start of a reforestation program being spearheaded by the Forest Department to reforest degraded areas in Belize.