“The forest is an invaluable treasure. Even if a person has a lot of money and can build hundreds of buildings, they cannot create a single leaf. So we must plant trees since we can breathe better because of them.”
Every year, the 1st of July is celebrated as Kawthoolei Tree Planting Day in every district of Karen State, Kawthoolei. However, this year officials of the Mutraw District Kawthoolei Forestry Department (KFD) organized a tree planting ceremony on the 10th of July 2019 in Da Gway Reserved Forest, on the eastern side of the Salween Peace Park, Mutraw District.
The Mutraw District KFD, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), District Karen National Union (KNU) leaders, local villagers, IDPs, refugees and representatives from community organizations joined the ceremony to plant trees together.
As the Salween Peace Park (SPP) is located at the opposite site of Thailand’s Salween National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, which is east of the Salween River, it was important for the KFD to work together with the Thai Forestry Department. Therefore, like previous years, Mutraw District KFD invited local Thai Forestry Department officers to join the event to strengthen their relationship for better forest and wildlife conservation on the border along the Salween River.
Approximately 150 people joined the ceremony and planted 2,500 trees across 5 acres of land.