2006/232
PLANT FOR THE PLANET: THE BILLION TREE CAMPAIGN
TERHAN, 5 November 2006 (UNIC)--The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is launching a major worldwide tree planting campaign. Under the Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, organisations and governments will be encouraged to enter tree planting pledges on a web site www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign with the objective of planting at least 1 billion trees worldwide during 2007.
The idea for the Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2004 and founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, which has planted more than 30 million trees in 12 African countries since 1977. When a corporate group in the United States told Professor Maathai it was planning to plant a million trees, her response was: “That’s great, but what we really need is to plant a billion trees!” Professor Maathai is the lead patron for the Billion Tree Campaign.
Why trees?
“The symbolism – and the substantive significance – of planting a tree has universal power in every culture and every society on Earth, and it is a way for individual men, women and children to participate in creating solutions for the environmental crisis.”
Al Gore, Earth in the Balance
As well as focusing on tree planting and the issue of deforestation, the Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign will play a broader symbolic purpose, highlighting issues such as climate change, air quality, integrated water resource management, biodiversity conservation etc.
· Trees absorb pollution
· Trees protect water catchments
· Trees reduce soil erosion
· Trees produce life-giving oxygen
· Trees mitigate climate change
· Trees help to cool cities
· Trees are culturally important
· Trees provide habitat for wildlife
· Trees are a legacy for future generations
The Billion Tree Campaign
UNEP will work with civil society organisations, the private sector and governments in all regions of the world to build on the successful model of the UNEP Plant for the Planet campaign. Recognising that there are many such tree planting schemes round the world, UNEP proposes to federate these efforts in the context of the existing UNEP Plant for the Planet campaign, by launching a major worldwide Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign.
People and entities from around the world – individuals, children and youth groups, schools, community groups, non-governmental organisations, farmers, private sector organizations, and local and national governments – will be encouraged to enter pledges on a web site www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign, which will serve as the catalyst for the campaign. Each pledge can be anything from a single tree to 10 million trees.
The responsibility will lie with the person/organization making the pledge via the campaign website to arrange for the tree planting. All contributing participants will receive a certificate of involvement. They will be encouraged to follow-up via the web site so we can verify that the trees have survived. UNEP will work to forge partnerships with existing certification mechanisms, such as the Forest Stewardship Council.
The campaign will encourage the planting of indigenous trees and trees that are appropriate to the local environment. Advice on tree planting will be made available via the website, as well as information about reforestation and other tree-related issues, including links to appropriate partner organisations best equipped to give locally tailored advice. This will include links to appropriate partner organisations, such as ICRAF-the World Agroforestry Centre, who are best equipped to give locally tailored advice. ICRAF have promised full support to the campaign already.
Because ideal planting conditions vary in different regions, the campaign will operate throughout the year. The website will record the ongoing tally of pledges, and also publish photos and accounts from registered campaign members of what they have achieved.
The inaugural Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign will take place during 2007, following a launch during the UN Climate Change meeting in Nairobi in November 2006. Subsequent landmark events, such as the 2007 World Environment Day celebrations (which focus on climate change under the slogan Melting Ice: A Hot Topic?) will be used to create synergies and further publicise the campaign.
UNEP’s role
UNEP will act as a catalyst by providing leadership and a federating function. UNEP will provide a small secretariat, which will raise awareness around the world about the Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign and about how people can join in.
The secretariat will also be responsible for enrolling the support of corporate sponsors that will support the campaign by organising high-profile advertising in the print, radio, TV and web media, such as has been successfully done in UNEP’s Focus On Your World competitions.
UNEP will also facilitate ongoing media coverage to highlight the involvement of campaign members, from individuals to major organisations and governments, throughout the year.
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