Plant for the Planet

Restoring Forests and Improving Communities 11 Billion Tree Planting Campaign
Kisumu Africa UNEP – Africa 2006

Eighty percent of the forests that originally covered the Earth have been cleared, fragmented, or degraded as of 1997. Despite increased public awareness and conservation efforts, approximately 375 square kilometers of forest are lost everyday. Inspired by Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched Plant for the Planet, a program which encourages people, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments to enter tree-planting pledges online with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide.

In recreating lost forests and developing new ones, Plant for the Planet hopes to address other concerns including loss of biodiversity and improving water availability, stemming desertification and reducing erosion. Plant for the Planet programs have been established in Bangladesh and Ghana; it is estimated that 1 to 5 million trees will be planted in each of the participating countries by the end of 2008. In 2006,

The Baum Foundation assisted Plant for the Planet in a major tree-planting event in Kenya. Through this initiative, UNEP planted 10,000 trees in schools, parks, and along main roads in Kisumu, Africa. Another 40,000 trees were also planted by schools in the area. Schools around Nairobi built upon the work done in Kisumu and planted an additional 15,000 trees.

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