Community | March 31, 2009 | 22 comments

Billion tree campaign grows past three billion mark: UNEP

source: http://cgi.wn.com/?action=display&article=84575049&template=worldnews/paidnews.txt&index=recent

Image
JanforGore

http://cgi.wn.com/?action=display&article=84575049&template=worldnews...

An effort to fight climate change through reforestation, seeded at the grassroots level, has now blossomed into a woodland of over 3 billion trees, with the confirmation that over 300 million were planted in Turkey in 2008, the United Nations announced today.

In response to its success, the Billion Tree Campaign, which is under the patronage of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan Green Belt Movement founder Professor Wangari Maathai and Prince Albert II of Monaco, has already set a new target of 7 billion trees to be planted by the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in December 2009.

The campaign was launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in 2006 as a response not only to the threat of global warming but also to wide sustainability challenges from water supplies to biodiversity loss.

Tree planting remains one of the most cost-effective ways to address climate change, according to UNEP. Trees and forests play a vital role in regulating the climate since they absorb carbon dioxide. Deforestation, in turn, accounts for over 20 per cent of the carbon dioxide humans generate, rivalling the emissions from other sources.

Trees also play a crucial role in providing a range of products and services to rural and urban populations, including food, timber, fibre, medicines and energy as well as soil fertility, water and biodiversity conservation.

With slightly over 700 million trees planted to date, Turkey now attains second position in the list of top 10 countries in the Campaign's roll of honour. The leading country remains Ethiopia with 725 million trees planted, UNEP said. Mexico, with 472,404,266 trees planted to date, Kenya with 139,893,668 and Cuba with 137,476,771 round out the top five in the sylvan effort.

Meanwhile, an organization in Romania known as the PRAIS Foundation, in partnership with the Romanian Government and other partners, has confirmed that it has planted over 11 million trees through the national tree-planting movement 'Millions of People, Millions of Trees.'

In total, 3,071,704,993 trees have been planted around the world. So far, another 1,578,796,459 trees have been pledged and have yet to be planted.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   Earth and Science,   Sustainable Agriculture,   1 more
  2. tags:
    News,  Green,  Earth and Science,  Environment,  11 more
  3.     
    |

22 comments // Billion tree campaign grows past three billion mark: UNEP

  • SeaJade
    • 0
      SeaJade  

    • This is an eleven minute video on the basics of planting an oak tree (this location is southern california) produced by Tree People in Los Angeles.

      "Learn how to plant a 1-gallon tree in the Santa Monica Mountains with TreePeoples Oscar Sanchez. Steps include: 1) Tool safety; 2) Preparing the hole; 3) Digging and refilling the hole; 4) Tree placement; 5) Making a berm or watering basin; 6) Watering the tree; and 7) Applying mulch. Note: please remember to always check with local land management agencies before planting trees in public parks. To volunteer at a TreePeople planting or tree care event, or to learn how you can bring trees to your local park, street or school, please visit www.treepeople.org. [Video produced and directed by Stephen Readmond"

    • 4 years ago
  • gentjim
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • I know, mine too. There is so much negativity in the reality of the world, but there is also hope, and people around the world who really do care for the future. I'm planting my tree on April 24 and I hope many others in this country will do the same. It is such a simple solution and one that will not require huge sums of money, subsiidies, or Congressional approval. Sometmes the best solutions are truly right in front of us.

    • 4 years ago
  • jh64487
  • Vierotchka
  • darkhorsejim
    • 0
      darkhorsejim  

    • I' m glad I was able to help by purchasing carbon offsets with online purchases, as well as directly to specific organizations dedicated to reforestation. How is the U.S. not helping out when there is no better time to extend the olive branch - no make it a tree - to nations in need?

      Arbor Day is coming up on April 24th, an important annual reminder for tree planting - go for it if you can.

    • 4 years ago
  • ampersand
    • 0
      ampersand  

    • China found out through some monumental failures that massive tree plantings require care and attention. I can confirm that through the more modest hundred plus trees I've planted in the past three years. Let's hope all the trees in Turkey and Ethiopia get water, care, and protection from foraging animals in their first tender years. A tree is a far more efficient solar energy machine than anything we've yet built. And some of them even feed us, while doing life sustaining work on the soil and the atmosphere.

    • 4 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  

    • Excellent! May this be just the beginning, so many more need to be planted. Unfortunately, one cannot plant new trees in the devastated Amazon and other rain-forests, as once the trees are cut down, the topsoil cannot support new trees.

      SeaJade, that video is exquisite, as is the music! Thanks - trees are very special to me, very significant in my life.

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • antoine_99
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  
    • Image

    • Hail to the Tree~

      Here is one for you JanforGore, this tree sits outside the Thomas Jefferson's cooks living quarters at Monticello, if only trees could tell their story.

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • leahl
  • Bren589
    • 0
      Bren589  

    • Thanks Jan this is so positive. SeaJade thanks for sharing that video. Its great to see szso many trees are being planted. Hope to see this world wide

    • 4 years ago
  • SeaJade
    • 0
      SeaJade  

    • Thank you for sharing the good news Jan!

      An Ode To The Forest: (but only watch if you want to relax and enjoy the scenery, this is not a fast paced news bite) Made to give a few minutes of positive thought, contemplation and appreciation for our trees and forests.....

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • jahbini
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Notice what country is missing from this list?
      I am formulating an initiative regarding this that I will be sending to the White House within the next month to mark Earth Day. I will give more information on it here in a couple of weeks.

      We cannot go wrong planting more trees.

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • JanforGore:

      The fact that our own country is not on the list is shameful, and I am glad that you are organizing a message. I joined the Arbor day foundation and receive plants and trees on a regular basis to plant around my home or give to friends. Its not a bad deal.

      But I think that America should get on board and do their part, after all she is the biggest consumer and polluter, she has a moral responsibility to do that.

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • JanforGore:

      I have done that too, and have given the trees to a local school and some friends who have the space to plant them. The Arbor Foundation is great. And I agree, we need to step up to the plate. If all of these countries that aren't even emitting the amounts of GHGs we are can do it, so can we. And we must.

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
more from Community:
from the community

top videos