KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda will plant millions of trees in the next four years at a cost of $253 million, as it tries to restore dwindling forest cover to 30 percent of its area from 22 percent, the government said on Wednesday.

Like many African countries, Uganda suffers from rampant deforestation that dries up rivers, triggers soil erosion and threatens wildlife, especially birds and primates.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh will seek emergency funds from the World Heritage Center to restore the ecosystem and biodiversity of the Sundarban mangrove forest, badly mauled by last month's killer cyclone, officials said on Wednesday.

Cyclone Sidr, which struck the Bangladesh coast on November 15 with winds of 250 kph (155 mph), killed around 3,500 people, made millions homeless and destroyed a large part of the Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.

OINOFYTA, Greece (Reuters) - The river started turning purple 10 years ago, but the people in the small Greek town of Oinofyta who were losing loved ones to cancer never thought of blaming the water.

Warsaw, Poland – Over 100,000 signatures have been forwarded to the Polish government, calling for the protection of Europe’s last remaining stands of natural forests.

The signature drive is part of a WWF campaign to safeguard ancient woodlands in Poland’s Bialowieza Primaeval Forest from logging and other unsustainable forest activities.