Thailand to plant 800 million trees to celebrate queen’s birthday

CHIANG MAI, July 14 (TNA) - The government plans to plant 800 million trees nationwide in five years to celebrate 80th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen which falls on this August 12. Senior government officials in the North attended a meeting in Chiang Mai province co-chaired by Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, Minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisarn and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Preecha Rengsomboonsuk. Discussion on the government’s plan to plant 800 million trees to celebrate the queen’s 80th birthday in five years was raised during the meeting. The aim is to recover tree forests which have been dwindled nationwide. The plan also calls for planting 20 million trees in upstream areas in the North, starting this August 8 and completing within a month. Plodprasop has ordered officials of the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Flora, and the Royal Forest Department to clearly specify areas where trees would be grown. The Mineral Resources Department is assigned to pinpoint areas where small plants should be grown to lessen damages from natural disaster while Land Development Department is to categorise types of soil so that trees growing could be made efficiently. (TNA)