SALOME ALWENY
KAMPALA

VISITING Foreign ministers over the weekend planted trees at the Pan African Park in Kampala, as part of their contributions to mitigate climate change.

Kampala mayor Al-Hajji Nasser Ntegge Sebaggala, who accompanied the ministers who were led by Ugandan state minister for International Cooperation Okello Oryem, said the exercise would enhance the beauty of Kampala.

The Minister for Water and Environment, Ms Maria Mutagamba, said she had signed legal statutory instruments that will make the area a forest reserve.
"The park will be a tourist site. People will be allowed to hold functions in the park after approval from National Forestry Authority and the Pan African Movement," Ms Mutagamba said.

Kampala City Council, the Lions Club and the Ministry of Water and Environment will oversee the growth of the trees.

Environment ministers from all over Africa had earlier planted the Chogm 2007 forest at Kimaka Central Forest Reserve in Jinja District on November 17.

Tree nursing is one of the means of mitigating adverse effects of climate change. As trees grow, they remove carbon dioxide, the green house gas most feared for causing climate change, from the atmosphere. The Chairman of the Pan Africa Movement, Mr Kahinda Otafiire, also participated in the tree planting.