“Breath For the Future” Becomes a Breath for the World

As part of the campaign “Breath for the Future,” Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) planted 20,000 trees, which will become breaths for the future, in 25 countries.

Turkey continues to take global responsibility with its environmental projects.

In order to turn “Breath for the Future” into “Breath for the World” from Kazakhstan to Malta to Azerbaijan to North Macedonia, the campaign “Breath for the Future” was organized in 25 countries for the first time this year with the contributions of TİKA.

The campaign “Breath for the Future,” which was launched last year in the care of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the General Directorate of Forestry, was organized simultaneously in 922 districts of 81 cities on November 11 at 11:11 this year. 83 million saplings were planted on National Afforestation Day, which was celebrated in 25 countries such as Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Kosovo, Senegal, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine for the first time this year.

11 million saplings were planted simultaneously in 81 cities on November 11, 2019, at 11:11 as part of the campaign “Breath for the Future: National Afforestation Day,” which was declared a National Holiday with the Presidential Circular No. 2019/24 dated November 7, 2019, and coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the General Directorate of Forestry. This year, the campaign has become an international event, which was participated by 25 countries.

Many countries such as Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Libya, Malta, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Hungary, Serbia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, Moldova, Sudan, Niger, Algeria, Senegal, the TRNC, Uzbekistan, and Albania participated in the campaign, which was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the General Directorate of Forestry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), by planting trees simultaneously with Turkey. As part of the project, TİKA planted 20,000 trees, which will become breaths for the future, in 25 countries.

In addition to the targeted social benefits, the project provides many additional benefits depending on the nature of the planting site such as reducing erosion by preventing soil loss, increasing the forest area by improving the green cover of the country, providing food for wild animals and supporting the growth of their population, and enabling children, young people, and citizens to live in a greener and oxygen-rich environment with cleaner air thanks to the trees planted especially in public spaces.

Furthermore, the project supports honey production thanks to the flowering and aromatic plants planted; enables these fields to contribute to the economy with income-generating species such as olive, walnut, and jujube; and creates recreational spaces.