The African Green Stimulus Programme that was agreed by 54 ministers at the eighth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) reaffirmed the continent’s commitment to protect and sustainably use natural resources.

The ambitious project- which is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – sets out to plant ten billion trees by 2023. Launched in 2019, the project has just reached a new milestone – planting of the billionth tree.

This year also sees the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 and projects such as the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami are key to preventing, halting and reversing the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean.

Resetting humanity’s relationship with nature will be the focus of World Environment Day on June 5, which also marks the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a ten-year global push to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation.

Countries also need to add similar commitments for oceans, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), launched as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 gets underway.