Canada sets up National Tree Day

OTTAWA. March 3. KAZINFORM Canada's House of Commons Wednesday passed a motion calling for the creation of National Tree Day, which falls on the Wednesday of the last full week in September, or the National Forest Week. Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Royal Galipeau, a Member of Parliament who initiated the motion, said that by passing this motion, the House asks Canadians to spend just one day reflecting on the link between their lives and that of the tree.

"The United Nations General Assembly has actually declared 2011 the International Year of Forests," Galipeau said. "Canadians will dedicate trees, plant trees, learn about trees and appreciate the historical impact the tree has had on Canada's economic success as a nation."

Canada is a leading forest products exporter in the world. Its forest products industry is a major generator of employment which is responsible, both directly and indirectly, for over 600,000 jobs.

The industry has annual revenues of over 50 billion Canadian dollars (51.3715 billion U.S. dollars), representing about 2 percent of the country's GDP. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com