Burundi celebrated Arbor Day 2021 on Saturday December 18, 2020, the 2021 edition of Arbor Day. The theme was:” Forest restoration: a path to recovery and well-being”. The ceremonies were enhanced by the Vice President of the Republic Prosper Bazombanza on the Gihofi hill in Bukemba commune in the Rutana Province.
The ceremonies for this National Tree Day began with the planting of bamboos to protect the banks of the Muragarazi River on this same Gihofi hill.

In his speech on the occasion of National Tree Day, the Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock Deo Guide Rurema recalled that trees are essential to protect the land against erosion and agroforestry trees to support the soil while maintaining its fertility.
Minister Deo Guide Rurema welcomed the fact that this day is being celebrated at a time when the Ministry has just completed the national campaign to draw contour lines to protect the soil against erosion.

He called on the people of Rutana to safeguard the environment and protect these planted bamboos. The population is called upon to combine their land in order to increase production while benefiting from the support of inputs, selected seeds and local supervision.

According to Minister Deo Guide Rurema, the planting of trees on all the hills will allow the purification of the waters of rivers and lakes and the preservation of biodiversity and therefore the increase of agricultural production to achieve the government's objective that every mouth has food and every pocket has money. Deo Guide Rurema reviewed the actions taken to increase production and indicated that this increase is the result of the protection of the environment, including the soil.
In his speech, the Vice President of the Republic Prosper Bazombanza said that the preservation of forests is essential because a country without forests is characterized by famine and desert.

Returning to the benefits of forests, trees contribute to the rain cycle, to the fight against erosion, to the reduction of air pollution, to the protection of the ozone layer and also contribute to the cleaning of the
groundwater table.

The Vice President of the Republic Prosper Bazombanza welcomed the efforts made by the Government of Burundi through the Ewe Burundi Urambaye project in the restoration of forests. Therefore, and in order to unite with other nations in the fight against climate change, Burundi since 2015 has begun a vast program of planting trees and 4000 ha are planted each year on state funding and 12,000 ha with the support of partners.

Vice President Prosper Bazombanza winked at the people who are passively felling forests without asking the advice of the agricultural instructor. He asked stakeholders to look for edibles other than charcoal for cooking.

Prosper Bazombanza urged the population to plant trees that absorb little water within 50m from river banks and to remove those that absorb a lot of water to prevent rivers and streams from drying up.