​Faced with an ecological emergency, the State takes back possession of the Mbao classified forest 

  The Head of State, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, presided on Saturday, at the Mbao Classified Forest, the official launch of the National Human Investment Day and the National Reforestation Campaign. In a speech focused on the restoration of the vegetation and the fight against ecological degradation, the President announced the challenge of planting a million trees in 48 hours on the entire national territory. The ceremony took place in a symbolic place: the classified forest of Mbao, a centennial ecosystem in the grip of a growing urbanization and a continuous degradation. Created in 1940, this forest constitutes a natural heritage crucial for the regulation of the climate, the recharge of the water table and the well-being of the population of Dakar. But it is today threatened by encroachments, wild landfills and uncontrolled urban expansion. Faced with this urgency, the Head of State affirmed that his presence was more than a mere symbol. It is, according to him, a matter of reaffirming the sovereignty of the State over this vital space, of making it a lever of citizen mobilisation and ecological transformation.