2023-08-30 11:55:45
ALGIERS- More than 26 million seedlings have been planted in the green dam areas as part of the current 2020-2023 program, according to the latest report announced by an official at the General Directorate of Forests (DGF).
These plantations were carried out on an area of 43,558 hectares, indicated to the APS, Ms. Saliha Fortas, director of the fight against desertification and the green dam at the DGF.
According to his explanations, the choice of planting areas and species to be planted meets ecological criteria, “but there is also the economic and social aspect that comes into play”.
Beyond the ecological importance of this forest work which consists in protecting the northern regions from erosion and silting caused by sandstorms, Ms. Fortas insisted on its socio-economic interest. “Its rehabilitation and extension, currently relaunched as part of a renewed strategy, will further contribute to the prosperity of the populations living in its spaces,” she said.
“The official statistics of 2008 already spoke of 7 million inhabitants at the level of these spaces. Their number should currently reach 12 million”, she advanced, affirming that the new program of the green dam adopts an integrated approach responding to the needs and aspirations of these populations while taking into account the vocations and potential of these spaces.
She highlighted in this sense, the new multidimensional approach of the green dam which involves the planting of species that generate wealth and are resistant to drought and forest fires. “Among these species, we have hardy trees such as the olive tree, the pistachio tree, the almond tree and the carob tree”, she listed.
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She also cited the prickly pear “which constitutes a natural bulwark against forest fires in addition to the usefulness of its leaves used as fodder for livestock”.
This ecological and socioeconomic approach also focuses on the development of the cultivation of aromatic and medicinal plants, the cultivation of esparto and the promotion of craft activities using raw materials from these forest areas.
“We strongly encourage farmers, women and young people to get involved in this ambitious program”, recommended Ms. Fortas, highlighting the support provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to support them in particular in through free training, administrative facilitations and financial aid granted by the Rfig credit as well as loans granted to young people via the Anade scheme (formerly Ansej).
Extending over an area of 4.7 million hectares spread over 13 wilayas and 1200 localities, the green dam is made up of 63% of the pastoral area with an area exceeding 2.33 million hectares composed of esparto and fodder.
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“This potential should make breeding as well as dairy production prosper,” she said.
Regarding the forest domain, it constitutes 18% of this space with an area of 665,741 hectares.
As for the agricultural area, it is estimated at 591,769 hectares, or 16% of the total area of this forest structure.
“With the aim of making all the surfaces of the green dam profitable, including land belonging to individuals, the Ministry of the Interior, Local Authorities and Regional Planning has launched a survey to list all the unused land found in the perimeters of this space,” Fortas said.
The survey in question “should allow the classification of land according to their vocation and the identification of their owners in order to encourage them to exploit them according to their usefulness”, explains Ms. Fortas.
“Land classified as fertile will be used for agriculture, reforestation or fruit or pastoral planting. As for infertile land, it can be used as industrial land for the construction of agricultural product processing units,” he said. she detailed.
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