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Kudzai Chikiwa, Chronicle Reporter
President Mnangagwa will plant trees at the State House in Harare on December 5 to commemorate National Tree Planting Day, while the whole nation will mark the day tomorrow, the Forestry Commission has said.

In an interview, the commission’s spokesperson Ms Violet Makoto said they selected Siyabuwa High School in Matabeleland North in Binga to host the day on Saturday.

“I am not in office right now and not yet informed of the exact places where provinces gather but I know that for Matabeleland we selected Siyabuwa School in Binga because they will be unveiling a plant nursery,” she said.

Ms Makoto said the guest of honour is expected to be the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality, Mr Munesushe Munodawafa.

The day is set aside to motivate the nation to plant and conserve trees, enlighten the nation on the importance of forests and woodland resources, enhance biodiversity and household food security.

This year’s theme is “Fruit Trees for Food Security and Nutrition.”

“This season’s tree is called African ebony, umdlawuzo in IsiNdebele and mushuma in Shona. This is an indigenous fruit tree. As usual we select an indigenous tree as a tree of the year, give information about our own trees in Zimbabwe and provide specific information about the selected tree. The information will help our community to know where it can be planted or found naturally growing, its uses and how people can grow the tree if they want to grow it themselves,” Ms Moyo said.

She urged people to desist from unnecessarily cutting down trees as trees play a pivotal role in day to day activities. “We are confident that we received our first rains and we urge everyone to participate in tree planting. It is not a once off activity but we urge people to continue to make it a habit to plant trees whenever they get a chance,” she said.

The first Saturday of December each year is National Tree Planting Day in the country. The day was set aside in 1980 to launch the tree planting season.