Curitiba (Paraná), March 22, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Paraná, a state in the South of Brazil, commemorates World Water Day today by planting a million native trees along riverbanks in its 399 municipalities. The simultaneous planting will be carried out by farmers on private properties cut by rivers and by students and volunteers in public areas. According to the secretary of Environment, Luiz Eduardo Cheida, this is the largest single-day planting in the country's history. "The goal is to take advantage of the date and stimulate the entire population to act collectively to recover the vegetation alongside the rivers," he affirmed.

The activity is part of the State Riparian Forest Program, intended to preserve riverside forests, under the coordination of the Secretariat of Environment, in partnership with the Secretariats of Agriculture and Planning.

Translator: David Silberstein