Re-planting of Trees Continues in Palestinian Lands Leveled by Israeli Troops

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Beirut, -  Replanting of trees in Palestinian lands leveled by Israeli troops is continuing in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of the second phase of the One Million Trees’ project launched and implemented by the Amman-based Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) in conjunction with the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC).
APN has said that nearly one hundred thousand olive, palm and fruit trees will be planted by the end of 2004. A similar number of trees were planted in the first phase of the project.
The project aims at helping the Palestinian farmers hold on to their lands by rehabilitating those parts leveled or their trees uprooted by Israeli occupation authorities to build/expand Jewish settlements and bypass roads and construct buffer zones and the Apartheid (Separation) Wall.
The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture has estimated that more than 6 thousand dunums of lands were leveled and nearly one million trees uprooted by the end of 2003.

The project cost was estimated at nearly five million dollars which APN hopes to collect through financial aid and donations by individuals, groups and institutions.
A donation form is available on APN’s website: www.apnature.org. 

A special committee comprising representatives of Palestinian groups and organizations supervises the entire project and identifies locations where trees are to be planted.
APN was established in April, 2003 as a non-profit organization concerned with the protection of Nature against the various threats and dangers including the destructive impacts of wars and occupations.