World leaders to plant olive saplings at COP31 climate summit in Türkiye

World leaders will plant olive saplings at the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye on November 11 to mark National Afforestation Day.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the UN secretary-general, and the Australian prime minister will participate in the planting at the summit venue. Bekir Karacabey, the director general of forestry, stated that the government will also establish new peace forests across all 81 provinces of Türkiye.

These forests represent an initial step toward creating carbon sink forests to help manage the climate. This year's events follow a national initiative started in 2019 that has already seen hundreds of millions of saplings planted across the country. The government plans to involve the public by announcing planting locations on the Gelecege Nefes website. Citizens can attend these events in person or adopt a sapling for free through the website if they cannot attend.

Karacabey noted that officials monitor the survival rates of these plants through field inspections and provide maintenance or replacement planting when necessary. The forestry official also urged the public to take responsibility for preventing forest fires to protect the new growth. He emphasized that individual actions are necessary to ensure the success of the afforestation efforts.