site.btaOver 60,000 Saplings to Be Planted in Bulgaria's Forests Following Agriculture Ministry's Christmas Campaign

Following the traditional Christmas campaign of the Agriculture and Food Ministry for the purchase of Christmas trees, 62,000 saplings will be planted in Bulgarian forests. The charity initiative, held for the sixth time, took place between December 8 and 22, 2023, the Ministry's press centre said on Monday.

A total of 6,200 Christmas trees were sold during the campaign.

The ministry reminds that the campaign was aimed at protecting forests and for every Christmas tree sold during the Week of the Forest, 10 saplings are to be planted on the territories managed by the state forest enterprises. The campaign went under the slogan "Buy Christmas trees with a cause: Do good without pause!" and covered 58 different points in the country where the sale of Christmas trees took place.

This year's edition of the Week of the Forest, which is a traditional celebration of the Bulgarian forest and foresters in Bulgaria, will be celebrated from April 1 to 7, 2024. It has been held since 1925 during the first full week of April.

During the opening of the campaign in December, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Miroslav Marinov specified that the harvested trees are from plantations for the production of Christmas trees, they are not cut from the forest, but are specially grown for the purpose. "Interest is now in live trees, which after the season, after gradual acclimatisation, can be planted outside, where they need to be watered regularly," Marinov added.

According to the Executive Director of the Executive Forest Agency Stoyan Toshev, every year there is a decrease in illegal harvesting of trees that are used during the Christmas and New Year holidays.