Desertification Threat: Burkina Faso to Plant 5mn Trees in an Hour

National Tree Day was celebrated on Saturday, June 21 in Burkina Faso. In 2025, the seventh edition brought thousands of citizens, grassroots organizations and authorities from the West African country onto the streets to answer a call from their Head of State, Captain Ibrahim Traoré: to plant 5 million trees in one hour.

This was the biggest campaign against desertification in the country’s history. The action included the participation of international organizations, such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which contributed 3,300 seedlings, as well as the joint efforts of all the ministries.

With the theme “Medicinal plants: a source of health and climate resilience for communities,”, this year’s event was launched at an official ceremony attended by Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, in Manga, the capital of the country’s Centre-Sud region. The government aims to achieve the goal of planting at least 20 million trees by 2025.

For Ouédraogo, who represented the president on the occasion, the national reforestation campaign is in line with Traoré’s vision of promoting a “greener, healthier and more liveable Burkina” for future generations and encourages all Burkinabé to take part in reforesting the country.

Also present at the ceremony, Environment Minister Roger Baro recalled the environmental legacy of President Thomas Sankara and his “three fights”: against abusive logging, animal poaching and forest fires.

According to Baro, these challenges are still crucial today, as the country faces the disappearance of its forests, the scarcity of medicinal species, and the lack of meaningful landscaping.

The government’s aim is to create a medicinal plant nursery in each province of the country, to increase local capacity to look after their own health. The minimum area set for the medicinal plant yards is 2 hectares, but the ambition is to have much larger areas. These groves will be completely fenced off and must have an irrigation system to make it easier to maintain the plants.

“A symbol of life, the tree is a fundamental pillar of our existence. It purifies the air we breathe, nourishes our bodies, treats our illnesses, supports our cultures and traditions and stimulates our economy. Dear compatriots, since the three struggles, our population has tripled, from 8 million to 24 million. Consequently, the pressure on natural resources has become greater. We are facing a historic turning point: either we act now, or we condemn our country to an ecological point of no return,” said Baro.

At Dani airport, in the center-west of Burkina Faso, a mango tree was planted by Saidou Sankara, secretary general of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Mobility. He celebrated what he called a “patriotic hour for the reforestation of Faso”.

“The ministries cannot remain on the sidelines of this operation. On the instructions of the Minister of State, we have come to help achieve the goal of planting 5 million trees in 1 hour, which is why I was here this morning with all my colleagues who agreed to be present at this operation,” Sankara said.

Raissa Dabire Yameogo, director-general of the National Agency to Support the Development of Territorial Collectives, also highlighted the importance of the day.

“We’re going to contribute in our own way, and for as long as we can, to help the structure that hosts this tree plantation to maintain it. We know that if they are well maintained and grow, they will make a real contribution to our well-being,” he emphasized.

The Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs (MDAC) planted around 600 saplings on the premises of its department in Ouagadougou.

Dieudoné Désiré Sougouri, Chief of Staff to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, stressed that as well as combating desertification, the plants planted were chosen for their medicinal properties, thus contributing to the health and resilience of local populations.

Sougouri emphasized that several species of trees planted will be useful for the country’s development.

“It is imperative that we act, because planting a tree today means offering a breath of life to future generations, sowing hope and making an act of faith in the planet,” he said.

National Tree Day: a mobilization to restore forest cover

Created in 2018 by the government, the National Tree Day mobilizes all the territories of Burkina Faso to reverse the degradation of ecosystems and sustainably restore forest cover in the country.

For the participants, the initiative is a continuation of the ideas that Thomas Sankara eternalized at the first Conference for the Protection of Trees and Forests held in Paris on February 5, 1986.

“I am just the humble spokesman for a people who refuse to see themselves die by passively watching their natural environment die. Since August 4, 1983, water, trees and life, not to mention survival, have been fundamental and sacred elements in all the actions of the National Council of the Revolution that runs Burkina Faso,” declared the Burkinabé leader on the occasion.

This article was translated from an article originally published in Portuguese on Brasil de Fato. 

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch