PREAH SIHANOUK, Cambodia, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia observed the Forest Day on Tuesday, urging people to plant trees in order to ensure the sustainability of forest and environment.
The celebration was presided over by King Norodom Sihamoni and attended by Prime Minister Hun Sen and senior officials of the government, the parliament, relevant non-governmental organization and thousands of locals and students.
King Sihamoni said forest is the life of all human-beings, animals and biodiversity on earth and helps to prevent soil erosion.
"I'd like to appeal to people to re-plant trees and maintain them in order to ensure the sustainability of forest and environment," he said.
He also hailed the government's efforts to re-plant and protect trees.
At the event, the King and the prime minister as well as other participants have planted 22,000 seedlings in the community's protected land of 20 hectares in Stung Hav district.
According to the report of the Forestry Administration, by 2010 forest cover in Cambodia is 103,398 square kilometers, or 57 percent of Cambodia's land.
But to ensure a stable and balanced environment in Cambodia, the country needs to achieve the target of 60 percent of forest cover by 2015, according to the UN Millennium Development Goal.
Cambodia's forest cover stood at 73 percent in the 1970s, but over-logging has decreased it since then.