20,000 Trees

Planting 20,000 Trees

Olympic National Park Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/8074017826

Olympic National Park1

 

The benefits of planting trees are endless. Trees provide shade, they store carbon, and their presence improves our health. We aim to plant 20,000 trees over a 3 year period as one of our Action Projects for Community Resilience. Studies are showing that deforestation is a contributor in climate change, both by releasing stored carbon back to the atmosphere through slash and burn practices, and reducing the capacity of the Earth to store carbon quickly and efficiently through photosynthesis.

There already exists several projects by individuals, organizations (like ours!), and countries working to plant more and more trees. Click on the links below to find out more! It will take all of us working together in different corners of the globe!

Jadav Payeng

Jadav “Molai” Payeng single handedly planted his own forest of 1,360 acres, named Molai Forest, over the course of 35 years. He began his life-long work at 17 years old with 20 bamboo shoots after witnessing first-hand scores of snakes that died from excessive heat on a then treeless bank of the Brahmaputra River.

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Muta Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in Africa in 1977 that planted trees in order to reduce poverty and promote environmental conversation. Since its founding the GBM has planted 51 million trees and has benefitted thousands of women through East and Central Africa.

Felix Finkbeiner

Felix Finkbeiner was inspired to start Plant for the Planet in 2007 when he was 9 years old after learning about Wangari Muta Maathai. Today it has grown to a global effort that teaches students how to become Plant for the Planet ambassadors and start planting in their own trees!

Link: Plant for the Planet

Link: Green Belt Movement

 

 

Photo credits:

  1. Olympic National Park:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/8074017826
  2. Jada Payeng: By Bijit Dutta (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  3. Wangari Maathai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wangari_Maathai_social_forum.jpg
  4. Felix Finkbeiner: ARS ELECTRONICA 2009 Ð HUMAN NATURE: Ars Electronica Gala Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/arselectronica/4294459549/in/photolist-7xued2 Credit: rubra