The minister made the remark here on Monday at the opening of the second Horn of Africa- regional Environment Meeting (HoA-REM).

Seyoum said though the region is endowed with rich natural resources, it suffers from severe degradation, soil erosion, deforestation, and faces a high risk of encroaching desertification, among others.

Joint research and information exchanges among the countries in the region can help to identify shared interests, the potential for development, to establish a long term trust and cooperation.

Water and soil conservation and management program launched in many parts of Ethiopia has been going very well for over a decade, he said.

The minister said under the slogan “ two trees per person “, launching the new Ethiopian Millennium, Ethiopia planted more than 700 million trees in three months. The country is also top of the list in the global UN Environmental Programme for planting a billion trees during the current year, he added.

Seyoum called on the meeting to identify environmentally sustainable projects and finding solutions in areas such as soil erosion, land reclamation and sediment control.

He reaffirmed that his government will give full support to Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center and Network in its effort of making the region eco-friendly.

Dr. Araya Asfaw, Dean of Science Faculty of Addis Ababa University and Director of HoA-REC said the main aim of the meeting is to facilitate cooperation, share knowledge and experience among professionals of the region in the field.

The objective the HoA-REC is to improve environmental governance in the Horn and that selected endogenous civil society organizations, universities and research institutions in the region that are dealing with environmental governance issues.

The meeting which is organized under the theme “Renewable Energy” will also review activities executed by the network since its inception a year ago.

The network has established Gullelle Botanical Garden at 700 hectares of land provided by Addis Ababa City Caretaker Administration in North West part of the city.

Various relevant papers will be presented at the five-day meeting.

An exhibition showcasing various fuels saving and environment friendly energy sources were displayed during the opening of the meeting.

Over 50 pertinent professionals from Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti are in attendance at the meeting.

A..9:00-R..11:30-12:30

E: 1:06 p.m.

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