Government says Eastern Province like the rest of the country is faced with daunting challenges of forest depletion and degradation.
Outgoing Eastern Province Permanent Secretary, Bert Mushala has observed that the current national rate of deforestation shows that between 250 to 3000 hectares of forest is lost annually.
Mr Mushala was speaking at the handover of equipment valued at over 178,000 Kwacha to the forest department in Sinda.
Among the things handed over where, a tractor and trailer, a disc plough, 2 water tanks, a tank stand and a poly pipe.
Mr Mushala says that government is aware and alert to the problem adding that last year, through the forest department government launched the national tree planting programme.
He says that the programme is aimed at combating deforestation, forestation degradation and climate change.
Mr. Mushala also says that the chief drivers of global warming can be curbed by replanting trees and enforcing laws that are termed to curtail the devastating vice of cutting down trees indiscriminately for domestic and commercial purposes.