To confront starvation, the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, with 162 farmers, cultivates the ‘Gaza resistance crop’ on 400 dunums in the Strip

Gaza - Ma'an - The Arab Organization for the Protection of Nature, in partnership with Gaza farmers, has completed the rehabilitation and cultivation of about 400 dunums of Gaza Strip land with agricultural seeds, as part of the first phase of its project "Reviving Gaza Farms", which it launched in conjunction with Palestinian Land Day last March, in response to calls from Gaza farmers. The project comes to confront the starvation war that the Gaza Strip has been suffering from for several months. It has been able to reach about 162 farmers from the northern, central and southern regions so far, and provide them with agricultural crops with high nutritional value and rapid production. Al-Arabiya began its project in cooperation with the Gaza Municipality by planting vegetable seeds and seedlings in the municipality's nursery, with an area estimated at about 6.5 dunams, which was destroyed by the occupation bulldozers at the beginning of the aggression, and tens of thousands of trees and seedlings were destr oyed, with the deliberate uprooting of about 55 thousand trees in the streets and islands of Gaza City. The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature in the central region, Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis and part of Rafah planted about 500,000 seedlings of various vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, hot and sweet peppers, cantaloupe and zucchini, covering an area of ??about 200 dunams. It replanted approximately 170 dunums in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, with 900 kilograms of mallow seeds, and 115,000 eggplant and hot pepper seeds. The first phase of the 'Reviving Gaza Farms' project includes, in addition to planting crops, rehabilitating damaged farms by extending irrigation networks to replace damaged ones, building greenhouses, planting fruit trees, constructing and renovating agricultural ponds and fishing equipment, in addition to rehabilitating broiler farms and honey beehives, all by directly benefiting from the resources available within the sector itself. The second phase, whic h is expected to begin soon, includes planting 50,000 diverse fruit trees, noting that 60% of the war of destruction targeted trees. The head of the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, Eng. Razan Zuaiter, confirmed that the 'Reviving Gaza Farms' project is not the first implemented by the organization in the Strip, as it has been keen since its establishment two decades ago to implement numerous projects and campaigns, most notably in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2021, during which it planted 450,000 trees, and worked on rehabilitating greenhouses, agricultural ponds, irrigation networks, poultry, sheep, apiaries, fishing equipment, and others. Zaiter said that this exceptional war required a rapid response to resist the starvation war imposed by the aggression on the people of the Strip, stressing that the agricultural sector has the potential to regain its vitality if it is supplied with the main production inputs. Zaiter stressed the need to focus on the issue of food sovereignty in the Strip, by helping G azans produce and establish local food systems, and not relying on relief aid, which, despite its necessity, remains fragile in light of the siege and the closure of crossings. It is worth noting that the 'Reviving Gaza Farms' project is part of the Million Tree Planting Program, which the Arab Society for the Protection of Nature has been working on since 2001 in the Palestinian territories. During this program, the organization contributed to planting about 3 million trees throughout the Palestinian territories, in place of trees that the Israeli occupation uprooted, or lands that were bulldozed, and working to rehabilitate them again; in order to help Palestinian farmers preserve their lands, enhance their steadfastness, and provide a livelihood for them and their families. Zaiter stressed that the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature will continue to work to support Palestinian farmers through green resistance and planting fruit trees, raising its slogan: 'They uproot a tree...we plant ten.' Source : Maan News Agency