Nepal - Inspired by enthusiasm and commitment
4 days workshop in Nepal and planting of 100,000 trees in July

Within this campaign of youth, climate change and forestry, a four days workshop was held from 16-19th April in Bhairahawa with the aim to aware and sensitize local youths on climate change and forestry issues and inspire them to  carry out the climate action campaigns in their local communities. Around 40 youths participated in the workshop that was followed a school awareness campaign at more than 54 schools and more than 5,000 students and 500 members of 50 CFUGs. 

Mr. Rajan Thapa, Regional Coordinator has been really inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment of local youths to work for climate action. Though, it might not have the immediate visible benefits for local livelihoods, but the local people are self-assured that it has future benefits, said Thapa. Within some ten years, they will be greatly benefit by the fodders and plants. 

  

Children planting in Nepal

According to Mr. Thapa, the local youths are committed to inspect the plants weekly. A committee of local people has been established to save and protect the plants from livestock and other anthropogenic activities. All the local youths will further inspect the plantation areas weekly.

 

Trees protect the soils from erosion.

Trees are the most important and most effective means of mitigation carbon dioxide. Further the plantation in the eroded lands will help in the soil conservation, controlling floods reducing its impacts in agriculture lands and settlements.

Many people help the youths to plant.

The tree plantation campaign is gaining further momentum with Ek ghar-Ek Biruwa (One home-one plant) campaign in Kawasati Bazaar area, Taulihawa and from Butwal to Salchandi, Dipal Danda. A survey was done in 50 houses to ensure the implementation of this campaign. 

From 18- 31 July, in the Terai region of Nepal took place interesting two weeks:
Over 100,000 trees were planted in western Terai in these two weeks with active participation of youth locals and children.

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"Stop talking. Start planting." in the final round of 2010's best campaigns
Six out of 135 contestants take part in the GWA Social Effie final in Berlin on October 8th

Since last year, the ambassadors for climate justice have covered the mouths of more than 100 celebrities. As one positive consequence, the advertising agency Legas Delaney , responsible for the campaign "Stop talking. Start planting.", was able to prevail over many other combatants and reached the final round, competing against five other contestants in the category GWA Social Effie. All in all, 43 out of 135 will take part in the final round and line up for for gold, silver and bronze - 37 in the category for economy and six in the GWA Social Effie category.


Felix and Peter Maffay

Next to the Plant-for-the-Planet campaign "Stop talking.Start planting." the following will take part in the GWA Social Effie National/International category's final round as well: The Ministery for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth for "Alter schafft Neues" with the title "Zähl Taten, nicht Falten" developed by the agency BBDO Berlin; and the 'Hochschulinitiative Neue Bundesländer, Kultusministerium des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Referat 41' for "Ostdeutsche Hochschulen" with the title "Studieren in Fernost" by Scholz & Friends|Aperto.

The GWA Effie rewards efficient and effective marketing-communication and awards the price for the 29th time this year. The winners will be announced at a gala in Berlin on October 8th. Until then, the suspence continues and our fingers are crossed. In any case, we will be represented in Berlin- and of course we would like to take the award home with us.

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Benin - New trees for the million tree goal
Children in Benin start planting 5,000 trees per month

Last May, a very active planting group dibbled 4,715 trees in the central part of the country. Children from 84 schools all over the provinces are involved in the project.

This year, they also have a great plan: "We will plant around 5,000 trees every month in all provinces of the country till December 2010" said Maximin Djondo, working at the Environment and Education Society in Cotonou, Jericho. With lots of children and numerous schools, it won?t be hard to reach the goal for 2010.

The group is also very engaged to find sponsors and international partners to make their dream come true.

 

Planting trees in Benin is fun!
 
 
Until 2017 the children from Benin have a big goal: Plant 100 million trees!

 
Dossoumou Liamidi with the Plant-for-the-Planet shirt and Salako Yves in front of their 100 million pledge.

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Cameroon - Action at Kribi Beach
The Little Angels of the Environment Cameroon 'LANEC' clean beaches and plant trees for climate justice

The Little Angels of the Environment Cameroon, under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Protection of Nature, carried out a series of beach clean-up and tree plant campaign exercises around the Kribi beaches from 29-31 July 2010.

The Campaign witnessed the participation of about 50 children from the Northwest, Center, Littoral, and South Regions of Cameroon. The event which is aimed at educating children at an earlier stage on the importance of protecting the marine biodiversity is in line with the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity celebrations under the theme: 'Biodiversity is life, Biodiversity is our life'.

The summer holiday programme with environment kids falls within the framework of the LANEC action plan, drawn as follow up to the pledges made by the children during the past TUNZA International Children?s Conferences organized by UNEP and the Young Agenda 21 of Norway.

Talking during the clean-up and tree planting exercises, the delegate for the Ministry of Environment and Protection of Nature Mr. Ondoa Valere, called on the participating children and youths to introduce these environmental habits in their respective schools and immediate environments. He equally made it clear that these children should do what the older generation has been unable to do.  

The LANEC National Chair Mrs. Priscilla Song, equally appreciated the children in their different initiatives. She pointed out that those actively engaged in these activities will always be privileged when proposing candidates for selection and participation in children's Environmental Conferences and forums abroad.

The activity ended with a tree plant for climate justice around the beach. This item marked the end of the summer holiday adventure with environmental-interested kids.

LANEC successfully put across the message of Plant-for-the-Planet to youths last August 2009 in a similar project in the South West Region. The present event is in line with a pledge made in 2008, when this group carried out a similar activity in Kribi.

We are excited what will happen in the future!

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Three Point Plan to Secure the Future of the Children
Children personally deliver letters to foreign embassies on the 1st of July, 2010

Pähl / Berlin, 1. July, 2010 ? The members of the student-initiative Plant-for-the-Planet, which has actively promoted climate justice since 2007, have formulated their call to action into a three-point plan and presented it in personal letters written to the leaders of 133 nations from around the world on the 1st of July 2010.  The letters and the included three-point plan calls for global action to be taken in order to secure the children?s future.

A group of 23 students from Berlin personally delivered the letters to each embassy so that they would be forwarded on to their respective head of state.

This direct request to the leaders of so many countries is an effort to spur global action in advance of the next climate summit in Cancún, Mexico in December 2010 -- which has become all the more crucial after the failure of the Copenhagen summit.

1. Put carbon in the museum. Technology for a CO2-free future already exists. CO2 emissions need to be reduced to zero by 2050.

2. Establish climate justice. In order to limit global warming to the 2?C that was promised in prior agreements, only 600 billion tons of CO2 may be emitted in total.  600 divided by 40 is 15 billion tons of CO2 each year.  Furthermore, this 600 billion needs to be fairly distributed among the world?s population: everybody should get the same amount, 1.5 tons of CO2 per person per year. Whoever wants more should then have to pay for it.  By doing this, climate justice will also help put to poverty in the museum as well.

3. Plant trees. 500 billion trees will absorb an additional 5 billion tons of CO2 every year. 500 billion trees sounds like a huge amount to plant, but it is possible. The Chinese alone planted 2.7 billion trees as contribution to the UNEP-Billion Tree Campaign in 2009. If everybody planted as many trees as he or she is aged in years, 500 billion trees would quickly be achieved.

In their letter, the children are requesting a response by Sept, 30, from each of these 133 government leaders describing what their country will do in order to combat the climate crisis and save the children?s future.  These proposals will then be presented and discussed at the next international children?s conference in October 2010.

Along with their letter the students presented each country?s ambassador with a copy of their latest book, ?Tree by Tree ? We Children are Saving the World Now,? in which they explain their motives and goals in a penetrating but understandable way and inspire other children to join in with Plant-for-the-Planet and take action to protect their own future.

By 2020 students want to expand their international network of "Ambassadors for Climate Justice" to include a million children from all over the world.

Source: Plant-for-the-Planet (English)

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Azerbaijan - "Stop talking. Start planting." at UNICEF Summer Camp
Rufat reports from Azerbaijan

UNICEF Azerbaijan organized a summer camp for children from all over the country between 27 June and 03 July 2010 in the Guba Olympic Complex in the North of the country. 100 children are here and sixteen of them had the opportunity to produce One Minutes Jr videos about issues that are of major interest to them.



The summer camp was held under the motto "Think healthy, live healthy, be healthy" and therefore many of the films are likely to be centered around health issues. However, there were also trainings going on around child rights and youth participation.

There were some "highlights" that we always show during the introductory sessions, especially two films from a workshop we did a few years back in Albania. They are perfect examples of how to build a certain atmosphere in a film and how to use different filming and editing techniques in short films.



During the summer camp 12 years old Young Ambassador, Rufat Dargahli made his statement as an Environmental Young Ambassador. Rufata asked his friends to join Stop talking. Start Planting worldwide action. Rufat also presented his film about Protect our Environment.

Here some info from UNICEF's offical webpage.
www.unicef.org/ceecis/reallives_14740.html
www.unicef.org/ceecis/reallives_14739.html

Your Rufat Dargahli

 

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The commitment of the students makes us cry
Felix as a speaker at the Hasso Plattner Ventures Forum on Entrepreneurship

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Zimbabwe - "Stop talking. Start plating." in Zimbabwe
Munyaradzi met the Deputy Ambassador of Norway

Munyaradzi attended the Young Agenda 2010 International Children?s Conference on the Environment which was held in the Stavanger region in Norway from the 2 to 5 June 2010. The conference welcomed 250 children between the ages of 10 and 14, representing more than 14 countries. Munyaradzi was elected to be the first Young Agenda Young Ambassador for Africa. Among the responsibilities of the Young Ambassadors are raising environmental awareness among young people, advising Young Agenda on ways to better engage children and helping to build and facilitate networks around the globe. They also lead children-action campaign in their regions.

Upon his return Munyaradzi gave a report of the conference on his school assembly, he has been continued education people on the importance of trees. Munyaradzi went to the Royal Norwegian Embassy to give them some feed back of his visit to Norway and he met the Deputy Ambassador Mr. Tor Kubberud. Munyaradzi managed to take some pictures for  ?Stop talking. Start planting?. Munyaradzi wants to use this action point to raise awareness in Zimbabwe.  

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Turkey - Turkish TV reports about "Stop talking. Start planting."
NTv reports about Plant-for-the-Planet

Ntv, a Turkish TV Channel transmitted news about Plant-for-the-Planet. Thanks to a supporter who translated the text you can read the message of the announcement:

Stop talking and plant!

When a child in Germany understood that bureaucrats did not do anyting about climate changing, he settled down to work.

Felix Finkbeiner who is 9 years old decided to plant 1 million tree in Germany. He made a presentation and people listened to him. Actually Wangari Maathai, who is an environmentalist from Kenya, gave him an inspiration. Felix was determined about 1 million tree in each country of the world. After 3 years Germany had 1 million more tree. ,..., Felix understood that bureaucrats did not do anything. He decided that there should be some actions and worked for it. He said: "We children thought about that we were diddled, especially after the congress in Copenhagen??. Felix set up Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation and started the campaign "Stop talking. Start planting??.

You can read view the Turkish article here.

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"Stop Talking. Start Planting." will start in Nigeria
Plant-for-the-Planet participating in international UN students' conference

Plant-for-the-Planet was invited by the United Nations Department of Public Information to participate in a United Nations Student Conference entitled "Biodiversity and Climate Change" in observance of World Environment Day. Felix represented Plant-for-the-Planet by participating in the video conference from Munich and interacting with students and children in New York, Kuwait and Nigeria.

The British Council is a partner for this student conference and has also invited a number of their youth climate champions to take on the role of facilitators for the group discussions. UN-Under Secretary General of Communication and Public Information Kiyo Akasaka mentioned the children's campaign "Stop Talking. Start Planting." already in the opening of the conference. Gordon Slaven, Consellor of the UK to the UN said "The young have to take the lead not tomorrow, but today, because it might be too late tomorrow."

The young woman in the green shirt, the Nigerian spokesperson, announced to start "Stop talking. Start planting." the other day, June 5th, in Nigeria! The participants of the video conference agreed "Climate Justice" to be a central issue towards Cancún.

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England - Beautiful poem on trees
Its End

Have a look at this beautiful prizewinning poem from 13 year old Bali Posner-Tal from England. It´s on a trees "feelings" when it is cut down:

ITS END
 
Fear prickled the leaves, an illusion of wind
running through its foliage. The tangible feeling
ran deep into its ancient structure of bark. A hum
heard; the tremors felt upon the surface ground.
A slash through the tree's fabric of being and the
life force beneath was severed.  It fell.
 
Bali Posner-Tal (13)

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Azerbaijan - 30 million tree planting pledge marks World Environment Day
Baku leading global day of environmental action in Europe

Baku, 3 June 2010 ? To mark World Environment Day (WED), the Government of Azerbaijan has joined the global Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign with a pledge to plant 30 million trees.

The announcement was made today by Azerbaijan?s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Huseyn Bagirov, during a tree planting event the capital, Baku, attended by Christophe Bouvier, Director of the UN Environment Programme?s Regional Office for Europe.

Baku is one of three city hubs leading WED 2010 activities in Europe, alongside Geneva (Switzerland) and Genoa (Italy), and its main event is the planting today of 1,000 seedlings and a certificate presentation to officially mark the Government?s commitment to UNEP?s Billion Tree Campaign.

By the end of 2009, more than 7.4 billion trees had been planted worldwide by participants in 170 countries under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, far exceeding the year-end target of 7 billion trees.



The Government has also expressed its support to work with UNEP to contribute to improve environmental outcomes at home and on the world stage. Azerbaijan is home to diverse landscapes from wetlands to semi-arid zones and contains a rich variety of biodiversity.

"We are proud to join the global community which is part of the UNEP-led Billion Tree Campaign, and to take this opportunity, on World Environment Day, to encourage people to take action themselves and plant a tree," Mr. Bagirov said.

 

Mr. Bagirov and Mr. Bouvier also announced that Azerbaijan will host the Gabala Conference, a Pan-European high-level meeting on biodiversity from 5-7 July 2010.

At the request of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Gabala Conference will prepare the European input for a Heads of Government event on biodiversity to be held in New York on 22 September as part of a UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals that will take place on the eve of the opening of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

"The President of Azerbaijan has declared 2010 the Year of the Environment for Green Earth and we are pleased to be demonstrating our environmental commitment through several major commitments," Minister Bagirov said

"Ten million trees have already been planted across Azerbaijan as part of our total pledge of 30 million trees to the Billion Tree Campaign."

"The Government of Azerbaijan wants to highlight both the progress we are making here and call on other countries in the Pan-European region to reaffirm their commitment to protecting biodiversity," he added..

Mr. Bouvier welcomed the Government of Azerbaijan?s contribution to furthering critical biodiversity conservation issues, including strengthening the links between poverty alleviation and conservation.

"Azerbaijan lies at the heart of two of the jewels of European environment and biodiversity, the Caucasus mountains and the Caspian," Mr. Bouvier said.

?We know the government will continue to do its utmost to play a central role in their conservation and sustainable management in cooperation with other countries of the region. UNEP is determined to continue to play its part in facilitating this cooperation.

"The Government?s extensive forest expansion programme and central role at the forthcoming pan European talks is amplifying Azerbaijan?s commitment to achieving improved outcomes at home and in the region and it?s appropriate to highlight this for World Environment Day," he added.

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend the MDG summit in New York to accelerate progress towards reaching those goals.

The Gabala Conference will consist of Ministerial roundtable sessions that will link the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity to the achievement of the MDGs.

WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the UN promotes awareness of the environment and encourages widespread attention and action worldwide ? from schoolchildren to presidents and from community groups to multinational corporations.

Marked annually on 5 June, WED is a day for everyone on the planet to 'go green' and encourage greater attention and action on the environment from individuals, organizations and governments.

Details of planned WED activities in Europe and around the world are available on the official website at: www.unep.org/wed. 

 

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Cameroon - Little Angels of the Environment Cameroon (LANEC) "Plant Trees for the Planet"
Planting Action for the 2010 Year of Biodiversity

May 11th, 2010, in the South West Region of Cameroon, students from both primary and secondary schools, under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Protection of Nature and in collaboration with key partners of the environment, GTZ, IUCN, and the WWF, organised a competition between schools and environmentally-focused clubs and associations.  This event was one of the activities marking the celebration of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

Amongst those selected for the competition were the students of the Fako branch of the Little Angels of the Environment Cameroon (LANEC), who at the end of the competition launched a ?green-wave? in schools all over the Fako division by calling on every school present to plant a tree for the planet.  The President of the Fako Branch, 10-year-old Fungwi Harris, called all the participating schools to carryout a Plant-for-the-Planet campaign in their different schools under the slogan, ?More Trees.  More Lives.?

This brilliant initiative was encouraged by the South West Regional Delegate for the Environment Mr Nchia Peter, who personally awarded a special prize to the LANEC Association, for their activities related to the environment.  He used the occasion, however, to call on more than 100 students drawn from different public and private institutions to emulate the example of LANEC.  While waiting for a declaration of the final results of the competition, the inquisitive students discussed issues of biodiversity and spent the rest of the day asking questions and learning more about environmental issues.

It is worth mentioning that the Fako Branch of LANEC was installed last July in 2009, during a summer holiday of the National Beach Cleaning Tour, organised by the founding members of LANEC based in Yaounde. This group has given many environmental education and awareness lectures in the Fako division, one of the pledges made during the International Children?s Conference that took place in South Korea in August 2009.  During this conference the children who represented LANEC made a pledge to plant trees for Climate Justice, and this activity falls in line with those commitments. Moreover, there will be a National Come Together in Kribi in July 2010, for another beach cleaning activity that will be followed by a tree planting exercise.

Noteworthy individuals present during this event were the National Chair of LANEC, Madam Priscilla Song, one of the Advisers Mr. Nchamukong Emmanuel, the Communications Delegate for Fako Madam Jacky Gam., and the event organizer Mr Nchia Peter, the South West Regional delegate for the Environment.

Tosam Delphine for LANEC News.

   

 

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Lebanon - Towards a greener country
Students from Lebanon support Plant-for-the-Planet

It was undeniably a wonderful excuse to skip classes. It was for a good cause: middle school students were on their way to the picturesque northern mountainous village of Shahtoul. Accompanied by AUB Red Cross volunteers, representatives from IBSAR (AUB nature conservation center), they had the important task of planting trees.

The 21 students make up the Ras Beirut Middle school's "Environmental Pioneers" headed by Science teacher, Sawsan Kibbe.

Each group of students was placed under the capable hands of an AUB Red Cross student. Dozens of pine trees, almond trees, and strawberry tree shoots were handed to them. The lesson began.

"You dig the hole, you plant the tree and you mulch. This means you collect rocks and put them around your tree," explained Arbi Sarkissian, the Project Coordinator of the Power Planting Program at IBSAR. At first, handling shovels and axes seemed a bit daunting. But soon enough, students were digging and planting.

"I love it," said Ali Maktabi, 13 who has never planted before. "We have a house in the mountains and I'm going to plant trees there too."

 

Three spots along the road in the village of Shahtoul were chosen.

The Environmental Pioneers have been working all year for this day. In honor of this year's International Year of Biodiversity, they have spearheaded a fundraising campaign at IC for their planting tree drive.

Students spent the day clearing weeds, digging, planting and mulching.

Locals seemed quite interested in students showing up in their village and quickly offered coffee to the accompanying adults.
"You plant them here and there," guided Emily Shlehleh as shoots were alongside her home, "and I will water them."
Even IC?s bus driver got in the act, grabbed a shovel and gave out instructions.

"I'm a farmer's boy from Baalbek," he said laughing. "It's about time these city kids learn how to plant!"
Finally, it was over. Exhausted students boarded the bus.

"I just loved putting in my hands in the soil," said Farah Arabi, 13.

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The Millionth Tree Being Planted in Germany at the "Petersberg Climate Dialogue"
Children ask the Environment Ministers of 45 Countries to Fight for Climate Justice in Cancun

We have chosen a location on Mt. Petersberg in Bonn for the millionth tree. It will stand directly in front of the entrance to the Petersberg Hotel. The plans are such: At 2:00 pm the Ministers will take a break from their negotiations and come to the hotel, where 45 children will be waiting. Then together we will plant the millionth tree. Afterward, the photo shoot will take place in the banquet hall where the photographers will be waiting. The children and Ministers will then pose for photos with the children?s hands over the Minister?s mouths, symbolically saying, "Stop Talking. Start Planting."

Less than 50,000 Trees to the Millionth!
There have already been 19 planting parties in Germany. Only 50,000 more trees until we reach a million! Every tree and donation counts toward helping us reach this goal. It?s really quite easy to do: just speak with an adult and a park ranger in your area in order to find a place to plant some trees, then hold a planting party by registering it on our worldwide map and invite some friends with our e-cards, and let them know about our campaign. Help us! Together we can reach a million!

Everyone can Help Plant the Trees!
We are not only planting the millionth tree on the 4th of May. The rangers from Bonn have two great places where we can plant 2000 more trees in just 20 minutes. And at this location, everybody can help! Register with us on our website!

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Earth Day 2010 in Guyana
National Youth Development Network planted 150 trees

During the Earth Day 2010 on the 22nd April the National Youth Development Network ? Guyana in collaboration with Earth Day Network, The Caribbean Youth Environment Network ?Guyana Chapter and the Agriculture Department of Mahaicony Secondary had a tree planting activity in the school. Before they started their planting session Mr. Elon McCurdy made a presentation about the importance of trees to the environment and explained that it is very important that children get involved to this topic and learn that maintenance is one of the most important factors to fight climate change.

After the presentation they went outside and planted 150 trees at the Agriculture Department of Mahaicony Secondary which is located in the east of Guyana.

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Plantemos un Arbol en Lima por 1 sol
Peruvian group has won thousands of supporters in a few days

Jean-Francois Dietlin started the group which aims at planting trees in Lima on facebook on April 15th. As of April 28th it has 6,800 "members". 
The group collects money to plant trees. Apart from collecting money for trees, the group is looking for volunteers in Lima.

More information can be found online.



Click on the image to get to the group


Razones para sembrar árboles

1) Combaten el calentamiento global.
Los árboles remueven de la atmósfera el dióxido de carbono, la sustancia que más contribuye a la grave amenaza del calentamiento global.

2) Los árboles limpian el ambiente.
El oxígeno que respiramos lo producen los árboles. Y remueven la contaminación del aire al disminuir la temperatura del aire, a través de su proceso de respiración y al retener partículas contaminadas.

3) Los árboles nos traen los cantos de los pájaros.
Escucharemos cantar a las aves ya que los árboles proveen lugar para los nidos de los pájaros, comida y abrigo para muchísimas especies.

4). Ayudan a limpiar nuestros ríos y cuerpos de agua.
Los árboles retienen las capas de tierra en su lugar y reducen la contaminación producida al erosionarse los terrenos y caer sedimento en los cuerpos de agua.

5). Los árboles embellecen tu hogar y tu comunidad.
Con su verdor y hermoso colorido cuando florecen, los árboles añaden gracia y belleza a nuestra comunidad. Hacen que una casa se sienta como un hogar.

Los Arboles son fáciles de plantar, pon tu granito de arena

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First international Academy with Accor and CWL
Children from Paris, Strasbourg and Stuttgart planting trees together

Together with Accor Hotels and CWL the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation organized the first French-German Plant-for-the-Planet Academy. Alexandra (11) and Grégoire (12) trained 32 children from Paris, Strasbourg and Stuttgart.



Gregoire started his presentation in the TGV during his ride from Paris to Stuttgart, while Alexandra educated 22 children in the House of Forest in Stuttgart. In the afternoon they all met for the common planting party with foresters from the Stuttgart forest and planted 80 trees together ? and some of them also exchanged addresses to stay in contact.



After this, the children from Stuttgart walked back to the House of Forest while the French children went back to the station and got on the return train to Paris. As the train arrived at Gare de l?Est at 20:30 in Paris, ten new Climate Justice Ambassadors from France had received their certification. At the same time Alexandra was handing out the certifications to the children in Stuttgart.


At the same day further Academies took place in Hamburg, and 65 new Climate Justice Ambassadors start to spread the word.

(photos: Andreas Biedermann)

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Seven months before the head of states will meet in Mexico for COP16 at Moon Palace, Cancun
Children asking for a Cancun Protocol based on Climate Justice

In the Moon Palace Hotel - where the UN-Climate-Summit COP16 will take place in December 2010 Palace, Cancun Mexico - Natalia, Hugo and Felix gave a presentation. Afterwards Felix was asked to sign the golden book.

Felipe Calderon?s and Felix' signature                         


This is what Felix wrote into the hotel's golden book:

15/Abril/2010

For most adults future means 20, 30 or 40 years, for us children future means 80 or 90 years. So we children will fight for our future. Copenhagen was a failure and we can not allow that the same will happen in Cancun. We need a Cancun Protocol based on climate justice. Talking alone will not keep the glaciers from melting and the rainforests from disappearing.
Stop talking. Start planting.

Felix Finkbeiner

Watch the video about Felix in Moon Palace, Cancun Mexico

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Register now for the TUNZA Conference on Biodiversity in Japan
Nagoya 20 to 26 October 2010

TUNZA international childres conference on the environment organized by United Nations Environment Programme in cooperation with the Aichi Prefectural Government & the city of Nagoya



Nagoya, Japan
20 to 26 October 2010

THEME BIODIVERSITY

The United Nations Environment Programme, in cooperation with the Aichi Prefectural Government and the City of Nagoya, will be
hosting the 2010 Tunza International Children?s Conference on the Environment in Nagoya, Japan from 20 to 26 October 2010.
It will bring together 105 children (aged 10 to 14) and their chaperones from over 35 countries to learn about the environment through plenary sessions, workshops and fieldtrips. The Conference theme is Biodiversity and will coincide with COP10.

For more information on the Conference, and to submit a nomination from your organization please visit our website:

http://www.unep.org/tunza/children/

****** Nominations must be submitted to UNEP on or before 18 June 2010 *******

For further information on the conference, please contact:

The Children and Youth / Sport and the Environment Unit
Division of Communications and Public Information
Email: children.youth@unep.org
Fax: +254 -20-762 3927

 

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Rufat presents "Stop talking. Start planting." on national TV in Azerbaijan
Calling upon Azerbaijan children and youth to plant trees

Rufat Dargahli, 12 years old, member of Azerbaijan Youth Union and active participant of SPARE project since 2008. Rufat participated in TUNZA 2008 Stavanger, Norway and 2009 in Daejeon, South Korea. In December 2009, Rufat was selected for the Azerbaijan Children Forum. During the forum he was elected as leader of the environmental working group.

After the Azerbaijan Children Forum he was interviewed by two popular TV channels of Azerbaijan - Public TV and ANS TV. In his interview he called upon all Azerbaijan children and youth to START PLANT TREES in all regions of the country.

The following were suggestions by Rufat, which were included into the final declaration of the forum:

• "Calling all Society members to think about climate changes and start the campaign "STOP TALKING. START PLANTING""
• To create Children TV channel
• To develop Children Communication systems via national internet social network
• To build network among the children from different countries and organize exchange programs, conferences, camps and etc.

 

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38 new Climate Justice Ambassadors in Poland
First Plant for the Planet Academy; Hands, heads and trowels working together to plant 150 trees

On April the 20th, a school ecology club from Borek Strzelinski (Lower Silesia, Poland) together with Plant-for-the-Planet initiated the first Polish Plant for the Planet Academy. This was the first step to fulfil the promise from the environmental summit in Korea to plant million trees in Poland.

In total, 8 local schools were involved in the tree-planting effort. The event was supported by our community council - Borów. The tree planting action was great fun but also hard work. The boys dug the holes for the trees, whilst the girls supplied the seedlings in special baskets. The distances between the Spruce seedlings were precisely measured, and that required close teamwork.



After the hand- and trowel-action there was some more work awaiting, this time requiring some brain-power. We generated ideas on how to move the Plant-for-the-Planet initiative forward in Poland. We would like to use the opportunity to meet the Polish environment minister in Bonn on the May 4th and tell him about our plans and targets.

Contact for Plant-for-the-Planet in Poland: Joanna Lachtera
joanna.lachtera@plant-for-the-planet.org

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Preparing the ground for the Head of States in Cancun, Mexico
Hundreds of Children are already mobilizing for Climate Justice in December 2010

During his holidays Felix presented "Stop talking. Start planting" to students of the Centro Educativo, Monteverde. During his presentation he mentioned that Mexico, in particular Cancun, will be one of the most important places concerning the climate and a planetary contract based on climate justice. He also said that, ?If the delegates in Copenhagen, would have planted trees the entire week, the outcome for our climate would have been bigger?. Felix then told the children about our activities in Germany, and he invited them to join the planting of the millionth tree in Germany together with 45 environmental ministers from around the world during the preparations of the next UN-Climate Conference.

After his presentation, many children wanted to support the Plant-for-the-Planet activities and preparations for the Climate Conference in Mexico next December. The first members of a Plant-for-the-Planet Steering Committee in Mexico were announced and gave an interview to the media. The first trees were planted, and Dr. José Luis Pech Várguez, Rector University of Quintana Roo and Lic. Adolfo Rivera Hinojosa, Director Instituto Cumbres, Chetumal, Quintana Roo both supported the "Stop talking. Start planting" campaign.

Because of the eruption of a vulcano in Europe, Felix and his family could not return to their home in Germany. So Felix and his sisters attended the school in Mexico. Felix received many invitations to give more presentations and he continued sharing the ideas and vision of the student initiative: at the Instituto Cumbres at the University Chetumal, Colegio Ingles and the Moon Palace Hotel where he was asked to sign the golden book after speaking.

Plans have already been established for some children in Mexico to join our event on Mai 4, 2010 in Germany. They will officially invite their Heads of State to also plant trees in Cancun with them: 200 Heads of State planting 200 trees along with 200 Climate Justice Ambassadors from Plant-for-the-Planet.

In 2007 Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, together with the prime minister Singh from India asked for "Climate Justice". The Plant-for-the-Planet children will remind her and all her colleagues about that concept which seems to have been forgotten. Many Plant-for-the-Planet-Children in Mexico are already preparing a warm welcome for the delegates of the UN-Climate-Summit 2010.


Dr. José Luis Pech Várguez Lic. Adolfo Rivera Hinojosa

Thanks to in (alphabetic order) Ceci Alcantara, Karin Wrege Gastelaars, Lic. Adolfo Rivera Hinojosa, Profra. Adriana Lechón, Jorgo Miridis, Magnolia Negrete, Marco Polo Negrete, Ing. Raul Negrete, Arq Roberto Sanchez, Dr. José Luis Pech Várguez and many, many others for organizing the meetings.

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A boy from Malaysia who cares about the environment
Environmental essay enables participation at UNEP Tunza Children's Conference 2009

Joachim, a boy from Malaysia who cares deeply about the environment, was among the 1% of participants aged 10 and below at the UNEP Tunza International Children's Conference 2009 in Korea. His trip to Korea was a prize for an environmental essay about mountain climbing that he had written.  Although he does not have the support of any big organisation, he was given the opportunity to talk to his school about his trip: "?I brought to their attention that kids were the ones who were making a difference and being heard!  In my speech I mentioned that they were kids of all sizes and colours and that they carried out projects at their own levels. Two weeks later my group, not that big though, carried out a tree planting session!  Before that, my family too planted some trees in and outside our compound... My school has 3000 students and I'm sure our message did get to some of them because some of the kids to whom I am a stranger came up to me and asked me about my speech..."
You can read his essay below:

Gunung Ledang was my first encounter and understanding of the true meaning of being close to nature.  It was this place that opened my eyes to my environment.  Before this I had no idea of the importance of this beautiful world that God had given us.

Sadly, we have not maintained the beauty of this world.  This is because there are tons and tons of rubbish thrown everyday, such as, used containers, old batteries, tin cans and fish bones.  In school, we see books, papers, sweet or food wrappers, and very often tissue papers scattered on the floor.

"We have not inherited the world from our forefathers - we have borrowed it from our children," by Kashmiri, teaches us that we should protect our environment for the future generation.  We want to enjoy a clean and beautiful world and that means being responsible for our environment.

In Gunung Ledang, I learned many things that I can do to protect wildlife and nature.  Always pitch a tent or the whole campsite in a place that will not cause further harm to the land.  In a fragile area or a place that no one has used before there will be a higher impact on it if tents are pitched there.  These impacts are damages caused to vegetation, trees, soil, organic litter, and wildlife and water sources.

At first all those words seemed so confusing to me, but over the three days I began to understand what they meant and how to avoid causing environmental impacts.  In simple things like bathing in the river, use biodegradable soap as it dissolves completely.  Thus it will not harm the fish and animals.  We should brush our teeth 75m away from sources of water like streams or lakes.  If nature calls, dig a hole about 6 to 8 inches deep, 75m away from water, camps, and trails.  When finished, cover and disguise the hole.  Keep campfires small and short.

When we hiked up Gunung Ledang, we brought back our trash and bits and pieces of other people?s trash that we saw.  I felt good making Gunung Ledang cleaner.

The authorities there give all of the visitors to the camp a briefing.  This is a great way to make everyone aware and responsible.  They even itemize hikers? packs and on their return from the summit, the authorities check their backpacks again.  All trash has to be brought back.  In other words, leave no trace!  I learned this new phrase and now I use it everywhere I go!

Although I am just a boy of nine, Gunung Ledang has taught me that I can make a wee difference to the environment.  That if we start to care for the environment while we are young, we can look forward to a beautiful world.  Joachim believes that, similar to hiking up Gunung Ledang, we need perseverance, discipline and encouragement to reach our goal, and that is ? to make this world a better place to live in.

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The millionth tree being planted in Germany at the "Petersberg Climate Dialogue"
Children ask the Environment Ministers of 45 Countries to go for Climate Justice in Cancun

We have chosen a location on Mt. Petersberg in Bonn for the millionth tree. It will stand directly in front of the entrance to the Petersberg Hotel. The plans are such: At 2:00 pm the Ministers will take a break from her negotiations and come to the hotel, where 45 children will be waiting. Then together we will plant the millionth tree. Afterward, the photo shoot will take place in the banquet hall, where the photographers will be waiting. The children and Ministers will pose for the photo with the children?s hands over the Minister?s mouths, symbolically saying, "Stop Talking. Start Planting."

Less than 50,000 Trees to the Millionth!
There have already been 19 planting parties in Germany. Only 50,000 trees until we reach a million! Every tree and donation counts toward helping us reach this goal. It?s really quite easy to do: just speak with an adult and a park ranger in order to find a place to plant some trees, then hold a planting party by registering it on our worldwide map and invite some friends with our e-cards, and let them know about our campaign. Help us! Together we can reach a million!

Everyone can Help Plant the Trees!
We are not only planting the millionth tree on the 4th of May. The rangers from Bonn have two great places, where we can plant 2000 more trees in just 20 minutes. And at this location, everybody can help! Register with us on our website!

Here the Ministers will meet with us, and help us plant the millionth tree in front of the hotel!

We will be planting here as well! There is enough space for 2000 more trees!

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Students in Germany developed Plant-for-the-Planet games
Play, learn and plant

The classes 5a and 5d of the Ricarda-Huch-School in Dreieich developed 14 games which are based on Plant-for-the-Planet.

The idea sparked a lot of effort from the students, and they enjoyed coming up with many ideas on how to make the game both fun and educational.  They developed rules, playing fields, pawns, playing cards and even special equipment like diggers and shovels -- everything one would need to plant a tree!

 

The students worked in small groups and developed games for 2-4 players.

                                      

The pictures show some examples of the games.

 

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The three big planting sessions in Malaysia
30,000 trees planted in three planting sessions

In Malaysia 30,000 trees were planted in only two months, and the actual planting process took only 7 days! The projects involved students from the Teloi Kanan Secondary School with the help of Friends of Mangrove Forest Kuala Gula, a group of local fishermen. Mr. Balu Perumal, GEC Northern Region Coordinator was the project verifier. The kids from the school have been involved with this project since 2006 and they were very active participants in its successful completion.

The planting of the 30,000 Mangroves was divided into three different sections, with 10,000 trees planted in each.
 
The first tree-planting event took place from the 5th to the 7th of February, 2010, in conjunction with ?Wetlands Day.?  During these three days, a group of 40 students and 20 local fishermen from the Friends of Mangrove Forest planted 10,000 Mangrove trees. On the 5th the group travelled about 220 km away from the school to Kuala Gula, their first planting site. With help from local fishermen, they successfully transferred the 10,000 Mangroves to the planting site by boat.
At 8:00 am the following morning, they began to plant the trees. On their first day, they successfully planted about 5,000 Mangroves.  It took the group only around 3 hours to plant them in mud flat areas, and they stopped planting at 12 noon; however, later in the evening they worked at our nursery site, gathering more seeds to plant there.  On the second day the kids were understandably tired, yet between 8.30 and 10.30 am they successfully planted another 5,000 Mangroves! 

 

The second tree planting event took place on the 11th and 12th of March, 2010.  Travelling for three hours by bus, a group of 60 school children, 20 teachers, and 40 local fishermen left their homes at 8:00 in the morning and arrived at their selected planting site by 11:00 am.  Immediately after arriving, the group renting two houses for the evening, cooked some lunch, and enjoyed a short rest.  At 2:30 pm the group began their work at the nursery to load another 10,000 Mangrove seedlings into the boats and transfer them to the planting ground.  By 7:00 pm, the group successfully transferred all 10,000 Mangrove seedlings.

On the 12th, the group took an early boat to the planting site at 8:00 am, and arrived at 8:20 am to begin planting. Because of the low tide, the group planted the 10,000 seedlings before 11:45 am.

   

The third tree planting event took place on the 15th and 16th of March, 2010, during which the final 10,000 trees were planted!
 
In the future, the students and the local fisherman will monitor the trees and take note of their development.  The great news is that the planting isn?t finished!  More local schools are interested to supporting the tree-planting initiative and its future events!

 

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The Dominican Republic is getting greener
3,000 trees for the Santa Lola Foundation

At the World Day of the Volunteer on December 5^th, 2009 the Santa Lola Foundation planted 3,000 trees in the Lagoon MALLÉN, San Pedro of Macorís City, Dominican Republic. 200 young individuals participated in this event and worked together to plant each tree. The planting activity was organized by the Santa Lola Foundation, United Nation Volunteers and Alliance ONG.

 

 

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45 Plant-for-the-Planet children and 45 environment ministers will plant the millionth tree in Germany
On invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel ministers of the world meet in Bonn May 2 - 4 2010

The first tree was planted after a school presentation in April 2007. Now three years later the children in Germany will reach their goal to plant the millionth tree, the millionth symbol for climate justice.

From Sunday until Tuesday May 2nd to 4th 2010 45 environment ministers will meet in Grandhotel Petersberg to prepare the UN Climate Conference COP16 conference. ?Stop Talking. Start Planting.? will be incorporated in the official agenda of the Petersburg conference. 4th of May between 2 and 2:30 p.m. the ministers will interrupt their talks, leave the conference room and plant the millionth tree together with the children from Plant-for-the-Planet. 

Are you interested to join this event? Please send an e-mail to the Children-Coordination-Council of the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation CCC@plant-for-the-planet.org

Grandhotel Petersberg, near Bonn, Germany
                                                                     
                                                             

 

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Trees for Peru
Children of Pampchakra community plant trees

Children from Pampachakra, Peru have planted 25 trees with support of Plant-for-the-Planet sympathizer Michaela Digiusto. Pampchakra is a community in the Peruvian Andes which is confronted with erosion and barren soil. The people who live there are aware of the global warming, not at least because a glacier has melted in situ. Thus, they know that it is important to get active and to reforest the Andes.

    

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Great success for the Hurgada Biodiversity camp in Egypt
youth and children of the Hurgada Biodiversity camp

Last week from 3-7 March the tree planting in the Hurgada Biodiversity camp for youth and children's started. The first day was the preparation day. The youth and children cleaned everything up to make the area ready for the trees.

On the second day the people implemented their pledge and planted 750 trees in two new areas in Hurgada city. 200 participant planted Gazwalina, Vegas and Neem trees. The last day was to observe the planted trees and check if everything is all right.
This was the formal opening of the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) 2010 in Egypt for North Africa.

 

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First trees for Nigeria
Teenagers plant for climate justice

The agro forestry and reforestation training of the rainforest with students has begun. 

The project was only possible because of the great engagement of Mr. Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu of the Smallholders Foundation. Mr. Ikegwuonu financed the training with his private money and some donations from different organisations.

Teenagers learned how to plant trees properly and could implement their new knowledge right away by planting trees together. The training was the kick-off event for the Plant-for-the-Planet project in Nigeria. Congratulations to the students and thank-you to Mr. Mr. Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu. We are anxious to see what is coming next and will keep you up to date. 

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Planting for the future- cedars for the Bermudas
Birthday party with tree planting session

Sacha Blackburne, a photographer from the Bermudas, arranged a tree planting party for her children's birthday.



The children, aged between three and six, worked with much eagerness amidst splendid warm and sunny weather and they were proud of the results of their work.



All planted trees were dedicated to Plant-for-the-Planet. Sacha Blackburn has already further plans for a cooperation with the international student initiative.



All pictures taken at this day, you can find in Sacha's blog

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Students from Berlin collected money for twin school in Senegal
First steps towards the new school

The students of the Insulaner Primary School of Berlin are very active Plant-for-the-Planet supporters. Many children are already Climate Ambassadors and many trees were planted. Within the framework of a charity run they now collected money for their twin school in Birkima, Senegal.



In July/August 2007 the first arrangements for building a secondary school in Birkima started. They had preliminary discussions with the inhabitants of the village before they began with the building measures. Since than the main building of the secondary school C.E.M. Birkama was constructed in the last years. Coordinated by the Verein Interkulturellen Atelier ASET e.V everybody  worked together: villager, parents and students built the new school building.



The first trees were planted from the students of Bikama around their future sports field so the students may rest in the shade. The eucalyptus trees have grown two meters in the last year and in the future there will follow a lot more trees.
The official opening of the school was on December 12th 2009 where the collected donations of the Berlin children where handed over. These donations enable the children in Senegal to plant more trees as symbols for climate justice.

 

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Norwegian students join the Plant-for-the-Planet network
Children of Stavanger planted trees

There were three treeplanting actions held in Stavanger, Norway during the last few years:

 

• June 2007: 12 children of the UNEP Junior Board from all continents planted 1 tree each at the University of Stavanger, as part of the preparations for the Tunza 2008 conference. The area was named the "Tunza alley".
  
• June 2008: During the Tunza conference, held in Stavanger in cooperation between UNEP and the Young Agenda 21 foundation, 100 trees were planted by the 700 delegates - one for each participating country.
• September 2008: As a follow-up of the Tunza goals, some local children planted trees: pupils from the Steiner school planted 16 plum trees at the Ullandhaug Organic Farm, and children at the International School of Stavanger planted three trees in their schoolyard.

 

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Trees in Kuala Gula
Our planting partner in Malaysia

We are happy to introduce our new Planting Partner! The SMK Teloi Kanan School in Kuala Ketil, Malaysia is planting mangroves for Plant-for-the-Planet.

The schools project began in 2006 when the school participated in the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign and it continues until today.

The trees are being planted in Kuala Gula, about 220 km from the school. Kuala Gula forms part of Matang Forest Reserve which is one of the few remaining vast stretch of tidal mud flats and mangroves. Fishing is an important economic activity to the local community as Kuala Gula is a fishing village that supplies fresh cockles, crabs, shrimps and fishes. Kuala Gula is also an important flyway which migratory shorebirds fly between northern breeding grounds and wintering areas to the south, warm areas. It is home to various resident water birds and supports globally threatened birds such as Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Asian Dowitcher, Black-headed Ibis, Masked Fin foot and Chinese Egret. The mangrove forests of Kuala Gula also provide sanctuary for the globally threatened Mangrove Pitta, Black-bellied Malkoha, Chestnut-bellied Malkoha and Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon. Two stork species occur here, the Lesser Adjutant and Milky Stork, both of which are globally threatened. In view of its importance, Kuala Gula has been designated and IBA (Important Bird Area) in accordance with internationally accepted criteria proposed for such sites.

The set targets and benefits of the tree planting project in Malaysia are:

• Saving one of the few remaining vast stretch of mangrove Habitats along the west cost of Malaysia.

• Working with the local people in sustaining the economic value of Kuala Gula.

• Environmental Education ? mangrove ecology are taught in subjects such as Science and Geography. Hence they learn about the subject?s on-site experiential learning.

• Better teaching of mangroves ecology in Geography and Science subjects through the on-site experiential approach as students are directly involve in the tree planting activity.

• Students benefited from the establishment of the Mangrove Ecology Education activity.

• More than 2,500 primary and secondary school children and 220 teachers have utilize and benefited from the establishment of the Mangrove Ecology Education Centre.

The school is planting mangrove trees as these trees are important defence against sea storms and tsunamis. The term mangroves refer to plants that grow in salty or saline water in the intertidal and coastal zone. Mangroves grow better in protected estuaries as very few species are able to grow in this environment. Mangroves are important breeding ground for our fishes, prawns, crabs and crustaceans, which are a major source of food. Mangroves act as a windbreaker against strong wind and waves, thus providing natural coastline protection. They also prevent erosion. These trees act as sinks for nutrients and sediments as its vegetation can absorb them. The nutrients remain in the mangrove where it will support other organisms' growth. Mangroves support a diversity of wildlife of which many are endemic or threatened and rich vegetation, some of which has great medicinal values and are yet to be discovered.

To date 320.000 mangrove seedlings have been planted on the mangrove project side that covers an area about 50 acres. These planting activities involve students from Teloi Kanan Secondary School and the local fishermen under the Friends of Mangrove Forest. The school launched a campaign with the help of ENO School Network Worldwide involving 1,500 schools from 120 countries. The campaign is called 100 Million Trees Campaign and was officially launched at Teloi Kanan Secondary School on 5th June 2008. The campaign hopes to get schools of the ENO School Network to join hands and achieve the target of planting 100 million trees by 2017.

Teaser photo: www.pbase.com

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Trees for street children in Uganda
Raising awareness

Maureen Mwagale is fighting for the street children and babies in Uganda. Ex street children living in an orphanage called Peace for Children Africa together with Karamojong mothers and their babies.



In line with the worldwide Plant-for-the-Planet initiative she involved the women and children in a tree planting ceremony (fichus and palm trees) along Mulago and Gayaza roads. All the trees were named after the Karamajong babies to show that they too contribute to the future of the country. So far, they have planted 140 trees.

Source Daily Monitor

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"Those who don't act, will lose"
Bavarian TV presents the Plant-for-the-Planet children as good examples

In the course of the climate ambassadors' meeting on Saturday the children wanted to win the members of the local CSU (a political party) for their concerns. The two mayors Klaus Pfeiffer and Johann Weber invited the children to introduce their initiative, wishes and plans.

The children thought about how to use this chance the best. Each of the 20 climate ambassadors absolutely wanted to talk. So they agreed on everybody was saying just one sentence. It should express why they shown so much commitment to the Plant-for-the-Planet Initiative. The result was overwhelming: The members of the local party felt attacked by the children and the children felt alienated by the reaction of the adults. After the meeting the children wrote a letter to the mayors and to Angelika Niebler, a MEP (Member of European Parliament) who was also present.

The Bavarian TV reports about this meeting in die Rundschau.

Here's a transcript of the interview the students gave.

Newscaster: Under the motto Plant-for-the-Planet thousands of children all over the world came together. They demand for visible act for the environment, instead of inconclusive palaver like in Copenhagen. In Upper Bavaria the children had the chance to speak to those responsible.

Commentator: You are gambling away our future and in Copenhagen you showed the best proof for that. That is what the children of Plant-for-the-Planet wanted to make clear to politicians of the CSU local-union Pähl yesterday evening. Especially to the guest speaker Angelika Niebler.

Felix from Pähl, 12 years old: No matter what you are doing in Europe - it is not enough. We want to have the same future like you do. And that is why we will go onto the street if it will be necessary.

Commentator: And because acting is better than talking, the children are taking action themselves and are planting trees. Almost 700,000 trees are planted and there are going to be much more.

Max from Berlin, 12 years old: One million trees on the world in each country. This is a speculative plan. But in Berlin we want to plant 100,000 trees, 80,000 already have been planted, so we have 95,000 to go.

Jule from Bremerhaven, 13 years old: The children of the world don't want to be mentioned
in history-books as a generation which flooded the coast cities, but which solved the biggest challenge of mankind.

Commentator: When the next climate summit in Mexico in May 2010 will be prepared by the Environment Ministers, several thousand children from Plant-for-the-Planet will plant trees with them for one hour. That should make things clear to the politicians: Those who don't act, will lose.

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750 Trees for Egypt
Plant-for-the-planet is growing in Northern Africa

Between March 3rd and 7thchildren and teenagers will be planting 750 trees in the Regional Biodiversity Camp.

We will keep you updated.

 

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Polar Bears in Copenhagen
Our sticker "Save the Humans" travels around the world

In June 2009 we had the idea to make people understand that climate protection it is not mainly about saving endangered animals but that we humans are the endangered species.

This idea was converted to a sticker by Johan Majewski from www.Bildwiese.de. The climate Ambassadors of Plant-for-the-Planet handed out more than 10,000 stickers worldwide. In Copenhagen the motive was part of the non-violent demonstrations.

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Schools all over Germany are planting trees
Students show that they care about the climate

Maria-Ward-Gymnasium Bamberg planted 500 trees for climate justice

Together with the local forester and their biology teacher, the 6th grade students planted 500 beech trees in the urban forest of Bamberg (Bavaria). In addition they had raised 360 Euros to finance trees in Namibia and Ecuador.



More about the Bamberg students at www.maria-ward-gymnasium-bamberg.de/ (in German)


Climate Ambassadors from the Hollebach school are getting active
The ambassadors Laura, Manuel, Anni and Raphael, who were trained at the Plant-for-the-Planet Academy in Tutzing (Bavaria) in March 2009, gave a presentation in their school. Afterwards the 6th grade students went into the woods with their teacher to plant 500 trees.

A journalist from a local newspaper reported about their activities. Through the article, a company based in the region became aware of the student initiative and to donate money for Plant-for-the-Planet.


Hamburg students get involved with Plant-for-the-Planet
December 1st was a cold day. Nevertheless, the 8th grade students of the Heghold school together with their teachers went to Volksdorf to plant 400 trees.



The week before they had discussed various climate issues in class and learned about the worldwide Plant-for-the-Planet network. The 400 trees the students planted last month will count towards the goal of 100,000 trees Hamburg students set last year.

More photos at www.hegholt.de 

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Trees for Cochabamba
Plant-for-the-Planet in Bolivia

Pamela and Sebastián sent us photos of their latest tree planting activities in Bolivia. Sebastián and his schoolmates contributed to both, making their home town a greener place and to the million tree goal for Bolivia.

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Climate Ambassador-Meeting in Bavaria
Children are planning a big planting party with Environment Ministers from all over the world in Germany in March 2010

Pähl - January 31st. On the past weekend 20 climate ambassadors from all over Germany met to plan together their activities for this year. But there was not just planning. At the 3rd press conference of the student initiative which was held in the community center of Pähl on Sunday the young climate ambassadors announced their future activities.

Convincingly and well-informed the children presented why and how they want to become involved in more climate justice, what they worked on together the past two days and in addition answered the numerous questions of the journalists in a very professional way.

During the Conference of Environment Ministers in Bonn the planning of the big planting-party was the main part.
Several thousand children from entire Germany and neighboring countries should come to plant trees. On this weekend the children did not just plan major Events, but worked with great verve on designs for their flyers and website and were talking about their previous activities in different cities.

The highlight of this planning-meeting was the appearance of the children during the new-years reception of the CSU local union in Pähl. Clearly and strongly the young climate ambassadors brought their concerns closer to the present member of parliament Dr. Angelika Niebler: they wish for more inset for their common future. The recent efforts do not go far enough for them. After all it is especially their future which is threatened by climate crisis.

The BR-Rundschau (German TV) reported live from the children's meeting. You can retrieve the tv-contribution by clicking the button "new in achive". Then you can view the Rundschau of 18h45

On this occasion we would like to thank all our sponsors for their great support!

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Plant-for-the-Planet takes off in Poland!
Polish children join the Plant-for-the-Planet Initiative

The first Polish Plant-for-the-Planet get-together took place shortly before Christmas. In the small, snow-covered town of Borek Strzeli?ski in Lower Silesia, members of the local school?s Ecology Club discussed the question of what it means to be a world citizen. Environmental initiatives were also planned, such as preparations for arranging the first Plant for the Planet Academy in Poland and organising tree planting activities. The children also intend to invite other schools to participate with them in the Plant for the Planet initiative.

It is no coincidence that this project started in Borek Strzeli?ski (perhaps it is a lucky sign that "Borek" in Polish means forest). One of the pupils (Natalia Szutenbach) represented Poland at the TUNZA Conference in South Korea. After Felix called for "those who want to plant a million trees in their country, please come up to the stage", Natalia went up to the stage. Afterwards she inspired her school friends with this idea and their singing video statement was presented during the World Commons Forum in Salzburg last year. Now the kids cannot wait for the snow to melt so that they can start acting according to the motto "Stop talking. Start planting".

Contact for Plant-for-the-Planet in Poland is Joanna Lachtera.

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Azerbaijan Children adopt "Stop Talking. Start Planting."
Azerbaijan's First Children's Forum in Baku

The first Azerbaijan Children Forum brought 250 children from 56 regions of the country. They met between 18-19 December 2009 in Baku.
Most of governmental officials (Prime Minister Office, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sport, Ministry of Ecology and etc) joined Azerbaijan's First Children Forum.



Rufat Dargahli, 11 years old, member of Azerbaijan Youth Union and participant of Tunza 2009 conference was selected to the Forum. During the Forum he was elected as leader of Environmental and Healthy Life working group.
During an interview by two popular TV channels of Azerbaijan ? Public TV and ANS TV - he called upon all Azerbaijan youth and children to start planting trees in all regions of Azerbaijan.



by the end of Forum Azerbaijan children adopted Baku Declaration, which will be submit to the President of Azerbaijan.
Rufat's following suggestions was accepted and included to the declaration:
?    Calling all society members to think about climate change and start the campaign "Stop Talking. Start Planting."
?    Creation of first children TV channel
?    Creation of children communication systems via national internet social network
?    Creation of network with children from different countries and organize exchange programs, conferences, camps and etc.

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What's going on in Copenhagen?
The Story of Cap and Trade

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Standing ovations for children
"Stop talking. Start Planting." - Campaign gains worldwide support

At the Vision Summit on 8 November about 70 children and youth aged 11 to 15 met at the Freie Universität Berlin, to become climate ambassadors. The training was provided by peers. They had a chance to show what they learned immediately after the training was finished when they joined the about 800 participants of the Vision Summit.

The Plant-for-the-Planet academy includes presentaion techniques and mobilizing others to plant a million trees in every country of the world.

In the course of the academy, one of the children asked Felix: "Do the adults take you seriously when you talk to them?" He replied: "Yes!" A little later the children could witness the adult's response first hand.

At the end of the second panel of the Summit, it was the children's turn. They spoke right after Nobel Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Franz Alt, Gesine Schwan and Michael Otto.

Felix entered the stage and stated: "Future for you means 20, 30 or 40 years. For us future means 70 or 80 years. Whether the sea level rises in this century by 1, 2 or 3 meters is a scientific question for you, for us it's a matter of survival!"



The adults were most impressed by the children's ambitious goal to plant a million trees in each country of the world and by doing so taking their future into their own hands. After the presentation of the campaign "Stop Talking. Start Planting." no-one stayed seated. The children got standing ovations from the entire audience.


Former candidate for the German Presidency Gesine Schwan, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, global entrepreneur Michael Otto, TV journalist Franz Alt with climate ambassadors Felix, Max and Ben.
Many more prominent people had their picture taken for the campaign by photographer Thomas Rosenthal to support the children with their important and ambitious cause.




The campaign "Stop Talking. Start Planting." was developed by Leagas Delaney Hamburg for the children.

Teaser photo: Roger Richter

 

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The Billion Tree Campaign
BBC catalyzing tree planting on 5th December 2009

Global Climate Change Initiative Inspires Millions in Run-up to Crucial Copenhagen Conference

The student Initiative Plant-for-the-Planet is part of the global family of the Billion Tree Campaign. Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, organizations, business and industry, civil society, governments and students are being encouraged to plant trees and enter their tree planting pledges on this website. The objective is to plant at least one billion trees worldwide each year.

The students who pledged to plant one million trees in their country play a crucial role mobilizing adults.
Get more information

BBC catalyzing tree planting on 5th December 2009 read more

Teaser photo: UNEP

 

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Students plant thousands of trees across Kenya
as part of UNEP initiative

Nairobi, 30 November 2009 - Hundreds of Kenyan youth, from schoolchildren to university students, have planted almost 70,000 trees in the last month as part of a tree planting drive spearheaded by UNEP's Tunza youth programme.

The campaign, launched in partnership with schools, youth groups and community groups including Pinklakeman and Mavuno Michezo, aims to plant more than 85,000 trees during the Kenyan rainy season in Central, Nairobi and Rift-Valley provinces.

67,500 trees have been planted around Kenya so far, including 25,000 at the coast and 20,000 during a major tree-planting push on 23-28 October in several locations including Lake Elementeita.

The initiative will culminate in a final push over the next few weeks before the end of the rainy season - and all the trees planted will be registered under the umbrella of the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign.

About the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign

The billion tree campaign is a global tree planting initiative that was launched in November 2006 at the climate change conference held in Nairobi. Its initial goal was to catalyze the pledging and the planting of one billion trees every year as a way of giving public expression to the challenges of climate change and also forest and ecosystem degradation.

In May 2008, UNEP raised its target to seven billion trees - about one tree per person in time for the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen this December. This target was reached and surpassed in September 2009, after the Chinese government officially joined the campaign.

Today, the campaign's website registers over 7.4 billion trees planted since its launch.

The campaign's phenomenal success is a result of the collective participation of people from of all walks of life and from every corner of the planet - from scouts to presidents and from schoolchildren to city dwellers and corporate heads.

The leading countries include; The People's Republic of China (2.6 billion trees), Ethiopia (1.4 billion trees), Turkey (711 million trees), Mexico (537 million trees), Kenya (281 million), Cuba, and Indonesia.

For more information please contact:

Theodore Oben, Chief, UNEP Outreach Coordinator
or Joyce Sang

Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

 

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Hamburg is honoring the activities of children
Environmental Prize for thousand Plant-for-the-Planet ambassadors

On 23 November 2009, the German association B.A.U.M. awarded the children with their annual Environmental Prize.

Peter Maffay, a famous German singer, gave a speech to honour the children. He was very impressed by the fact that they, so young at age, are so committed for the global cause.


Twenty children - representing the about 1000 climate ambassadors worldwide - received the environmental prize in the category youth.

The children took over and called upon the adults - there were about 800 guests present - to cooperate and help with their networks.


Felix in a panel discussion with the other laureates.


Photo: Getty Images / Action Press / Star Press

Felix Finkbeiner and Sophie Juleska-Blunck from Osterholz Scharmbeck received the certificate on behalf of Plant-for-the-Planet. Prince Albert II from Monaco congratulated the students.



Peter Maffay, former Wimbledon Champion Michael Stich, Chinese singer Wei Wei, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Wangari Maathai and Muhammad Yunus and many more personalities around the world support the children with the campaign "Stop Talking. Start Planting."

On the occasion of the ceremony, more than 50 children got together to demonstrate the seriousness of their concern. They gathered in the inner courtyard equipped with tree-shaped banners so that the guests of the conference could see them when transferring from the chamber of commerce to the town hall for the ceremonial act of the day.




The Media reported about the activity. (articles in German)

The children called upon the adults to act: "Stop talking. Start planting." is their well-known motto.

"The adult's greed and inactiveness are destroying our future," 11-year old Marta from Berlin stated. "That's why we need to show that we care and that we are taking our fate into our own hands!"

To a video by Sat 1 (German television channel)

 

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Changing the world
IM News reports about Plant-for-the-Planet

Felix Finkbeiner - IM interview


Description: In January 2007 - at the age of nine - Felix Finkbeiner gave a class presentation on global warming. During his speech he said he would support the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign by planting trees in Germany. His teacher thought he only meant one tree, Felix aimed at one million. It was not a dream and they made it happen in two years. Now he's eleven. Watch him closely. Felix serves as spokesman for Plant-for-the-Planet and as he has been traveling around to spread the word. To give two examples, he gave a speech at the European Parliament in front of 500 adults and at the G8-Summit in Italy 2009 invited by the German Development Minister Wieczorek-Zeul. This interview was recorded during the Tallberg Forum 2009 in Sweden. Now he's aiming for millions worldwide.

See more information in the world changers section

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Stop talking. Act now!
A short film made by Berlin children for the Climate Bridge Festival Los Angeles

 

A film made by Politik Orange

 

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"Stop talking. Start planting." at facebook
Become a fan! Tag your photo!

Your campaign now has a brand new facebook fan page. Have a look and invite friends to become a fan!



Tag yourself and your friends in the photos and help to spread the campaign.

 

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Chinese Minister Jia Zhibang supports "Stop talking. Start Planting."
Superstar Wei Wei and Felix planting with students at No1 School in Guilin

China is the country that is planting the most trees in the world. The longlasting Chinese-German partnership in forestry offers an excellent foundation for further cooperation. The Plant-for-the-Planet-Partnership between Wei Wei and Felix is another strong East-West-axis. Mr. Jia Zhibang, Chinese Minister of State Forestry Administration of China invited Felix to speak at the United Nations Forum on Forest in Guilin. www.apfnet.cn

The meeting was attended by 150 experts from governments, multilateral organizations and non-government organizations, the private sector from several dozen countries. Under the headline Forest for People the delegates discussed sustainable forest management. "Special addresses were given by Mr. Felix Finkbeiner of Plant-for-the-Planet Student Initiative and Ms. Wei Wei, famous Chinese singer and environmental advocate." is written in the official summary report.

Wei Wei and Felix had a special conversation with Ms. Yin Hong, Vice Minister, State Foerestry Administration, China discussion further East-West-cooperation based on children.



The highlight for Felix was the meeting with Wei Wei in the No. 1 School in Guilin.



Felix invited children to cooperate in planting trees together. "Let?s create a worldwide network!" he said. The about 70 children were excited. As a symbol for cooperation they planted the first 26 trees together on their school yard.



Several newspapers informed the 5 million inhabitants of Guilin about the activities on the front page, as TV-channels did in the news. Another strong axis was added to the Chinese-German friendship - the children.

To the news video of the visit at No. 1 School

Photos of the events:
news.ngzb.com.cn
press.idoican.com.cn
slide.ent.sina.com.cn
ent.tpzj.com
http://210.72.21.99

More about Wei Wei

 

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Tree Planting in Zambia
Child Ambassadors and YUNA Zambia planting trees to support Plant-for-the-Planet

The UNICEF Child Ambassadors of Zambia in conjunction with YUNA Zambia planted trees at a children hospital tress to support the Plant-for-the-Planet Initiative. Lucky Musonda, secretary general of the United Nations Youth Association Zambia and Green Kids Ambassador Chola Mumba are together with other kids right now preparing the big announcement for the million tree planting exercise in Zambia. 

    

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Canada is getting active!
The CISV Environmental Group has planted over 500 native bur oak trees

The CISV Environmental Group is making a difference to the biodiversity in our ecosystem by helping to re-establish the bur oak to its natural habitat in the Saint John River Valley in New Brunswick, Canada. Over the years, farming, forestry, urban development and river damming have destroyed much of the bur oak habitat. The CISV Environmental Group has planted over 500 native bur oak trees and has collected local seed (acorns), germinated them, planted them in pots and will plant them outside when they are ready. They have also produced a brochure detailing their conservation plan for distribution to landowners and naturalists.
Currently CISV is planting trees outside the city up and down the river valley out into the trees historic natural habitat. It is their goal to plant trees out into the full historic range of the bur oak.

The photos were taken at one of CISV?s planting sessions this fall. They plan to continue planting these at risk trees next spring when the snows melt and the ground thaws in the Saint John River Valley.

Source:

Ralph Simpson

Forest Health Biologist
Natural Resources Canada / Ressources naturelles Canada
Canadian Forest Service / Service canadien des forêts

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Making Samoa a greener place
Vaiala students go green

Team leader, Brianna Fruean and her environmental group plant trees in the hope for a greener future. They were dressed in green, planting green and hope to make Samoa a greener place. Vaiala Beach School has set out to protect the environment.



They have started by joining thousands of other children around the world in the International Green Day. Vaiala Beach School students spent hours planting trees in their school yard.

In total, there were 200 trees to be planted; some were given to teachers and students because there was no more room left on the school premises. "We just wanted to encourage more people to be green," said Vaiala Beach School?s environmental group team leader, Brianna Fruean. Brianna has always been active in the environment and set up her school?s environmental group to make a bigger impact.

Vaiala Beach School environmental group will participate in other activities such as a beach clean up and a walk up Mt. Vaea on the October 24. "When we reach the top we are going to hold up a banner saying '350' which is a climate change programme around the world," said Brianna. She was also Samoa?s first representative to attend the TUNZA Conference in Korea earlier this year.

Brianna was picked to attend the conference for her dedication to saving the environment, she started many green activities and one of them, her car pooling scheme had special recognition at the TUNZA Conference. On the last day of the Children?s Conference, Brianna was one of the four outstanding people who were chosen to ask the Prime Minister of Korea questions on Climate Change.

Written by Jaydin O?Grady   
Friday, 25 September 2009 15:11

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Children in Munich promise to plant 350.000 trees
Mayor of Munich congratulated the children on their ambitious goal

On October 2nd the Mayor of Munich Hep Monatseder congratulated the children on their ambitious goal of 350,000 trees to be planted within the next three years. More trees will be planted on 24 October. Then the children will not only plant 350 trees but also create awareness for 350.org.

To learn more about 350.org, watch the 90 second video.

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100,000 trees for Unterhaching - the first 100 were already planted
Mayor Panzer supports the children for the Campaign "Stop Talking. Start Planting."

After the Plant-for-the-Planet Academy in Unterhaching 12-year-old Alina summarized: "We are 30 children out of five schools who came together to the academy of Unterhaching, we agreed to plant 100,000 trees until the end of 2012. Today we planted the first 100 trees. We also learned a lot about the crises ahead of us that we will have to solve. On November 11, between 2.30 and 5.00 we will meet again with many of our friends and we will plant the next 400 trees in Unterhaching."



All of the 30 children promised to do their very best to give a presentation per month in their schools as well as in schools in the neighborhood. The local company Develey invited the children to host their academy in their communication center where normally only adults meet. The same did the mayor of Unterhaching who hosted the children in the plenary room where the city parliament holds its sessions. 

 

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One million trees for Austria announced by nine-year-old girl
Vera gets support from Governor Burgstaller for the campaign "Stop talking. Start planting."

On 29 September Vera from Vienna promissed that the Austrian children will plant a million trees in their country. Governor Gabi Bugstaller who was present when Vera made the pledge, willingly had her photo taken for the campaign.

 

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Max und Martha open the International Climate Week in Hamburg on 19 September 2009
German national TV reports about the Plant-for-the-Planet kids

Am 19.09.2009 begeistern die Berliner Klimabotschafter mit einer großartigen mitreißenden Rede in deutsch und englisch.



Sie bekommen mehrfach spontanen Beifall des Publikums während ihrer Vorstellung des weltweite Netzwerks von Plant-for-the-Planet.


Martha und Max mit Marie Lichem, Sprecherin der UN-Regionalbüros für Europa des Umweltprogramms der Vereinten Nationen (UNEP) aus Wien.

Die Tagesschau berichtete über die symbolische Baumpflanzaktion: www.tagesschau.de

 

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Tree planting activities in 15 countries
During Climate Week children all over the world went public

Please let us know if your country is missing! Write to info@plant-for-the-planet.org if we should add your activity to the next update of this film.

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One million trees from the children of Botswana
Maiken Hamaluba met the former EU Commissioner for Agriculture

At the World Commons Forum in Salzburg , Austria on 20 September 2009, Maiken promised on behalf of the children of Botswana to plant a million trees.


Stop talking. Start planting.

Former EU Commissioner Franz Fischler gladly had his picture taken for the campaign.

 

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"Stop talking. Start planting." presented to a European audience
Send us your pictures!

Hermann Waterkamp whose advertising agency developed the campaign to support the children in their quest for climate justice presented the campaign idea at a conference in Austria.


Click on the image to open the presentation (pdf).

If you know celebrities in your country who want to participate, here's the photo briefing for the photographer for download. Of course you can also make your own photos with your teacher, mayor, just any adult you can think of. Send them to us by email with a short description of the persons depicted: info@plant-for-the-planet.org.

We want to thank the photographers Andreas Biedermann, Anita Bischoff, Per Eriksson, Annette Koroll, Bernd Schumacher, Markus Seidel and Jens Umbach who volunteered to take the photos.

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Plant-for-the-Planet in 70 seconds
Liam Felsch presented the students' initiative at a sustainability conference in Munich

Liam Felsch gave an impressive 70 second statement on Friday 11 September 2009 in the city hall in Munich addressing 500 adults at the conference "Nachhaltigkeit trotz(t) Krise." Each speaker had 99 seconds. Liam was the only child and Liam was the only speaker not to exceed the time limit. In a few seconds Liam explained what it is all about.



Ellen Weller, a participant, wrote afterwards: "You have been fabulous! You did a great job, very professional and cogenial. I was impressed by your aplomb when the moderator wantey you to take the microphone [?] You presented the Plant-for-the-Planet message in only 70 seconds in a very impressive and effictive way like none of the other (adult) speakers! [...] My compliments and respect for this achievement ? you are a superb Climate Ambassador!"

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Rufat Dargahli interviewed by major Azerbaijan newspaper
about his commitment and the UNEP conference

Dear Friends

Good news. My interview was published in the main governmental children newspaper Savalan. Here I gave an information about the conference in Korea and our future plans.


Click on the image to enlarge the article (pdf).

Hope you can publish it in your web sites also.
Thanks for your attention.

Best,
Rufat Dargahli

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One Million trees for Poland
Natalia Szutenbach and her class made a promise on behalf of the Polish children

Natalia and her classmates sent this message to the participants of the World Commons Forum in Salzburg on 29 September 2009.



To a longer version including a song

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First Plant-for-the-Planet Academie in Austria
15 children were trained in as Climate Ambassadors to give presentations

The academy was part of the World Commons Forum held in Salzburg held on 29 and 30 September 2009.



The children spent the whole day in training and became the first Austrian climate ambassadors. They learned e.g. about the underlying causes for climate change and climate justice. The newly minted climate ambassadors are eager to start spreading the idea in their schools and to start planting trees.



If you want to organize a Plant-for-the-Planet Academy in your country, please get in touch with us at info@plant-for-the-planet.org.

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Students of Mozambique planted the first trees
to reach the million tree goal

About 150 children of Primary School of Magoanine in Maputo - Mozambique, participated in action of tree planting. The activity took place on 21st of September, Tunza Day and is in the context of Plant-for-the-Planet, Lets plant million of trees. It was about 100 trees planted on the school grounds and in the vicinity.


 
Neusa Vicente and Julia Mwitu
Mozambique 

 

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Celebrating Global Climate Week in Nepal
learning and planting in Kathmandu

I had an opportunity to attend the last UNEP Tunza conference in Daejeon with my sister Aanchal Malla, the child delegate.



As part of saving the environment and the planet campaign Nepalese children and youth got together to celebrate the Global Climate Week and did activities mainly on the Tunza Day, 21 September. We also celebrated the International Day of Peace.


Click on the image to see the report of the events (pdf).

The same week in Nepal we all were busy celebrating our biggest festival "Dasain". This is the time when all Nepalese from far and away come together to be with family and enjoy the togetherness.

With support from Plant-for-the-Planet we also did tree plantation programmes and distributed many tree saplings among school students to nurture every tree under their guidance. Free T-shirts were given out to all participants.
http://nepal.plant-for-the-planet.org

On behalf of the children and Youth of Nepal, I would like to thank each one of you for your support and we pledge to continue this effort in future.

We hope to be with UNEP, Plant-for-the-Planet, Global Marshall Plan Initiative, Unite4Climate, You Tube and other such like organizations around the globe in our journey.

Regards
Shraddha

 

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Sangare Hamed Yoro supports the one million tree goal in Ivory Coast
Un garcon de 13 ans plaide pour la reduction du CO2

Bonjour,

dans le cadre du projet un million d'arbres pour mon pays ,nous avons lance le projet en invitant les gouvernant à prendre des mesures urgentes contre le changement climatique par un publication dans le quotidien pro-gouvernemental.
voir pièce jointe.


(cliquez sur le image pour le agrandir)

Sangare Hamed Yoro
Cote d'Ivoire

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Less talk, more action!
Students at the UN Summit on Climate Change

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Seal the Deal
Six powerful voices

 

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Tree plantings in Argentina on 21 September 2009
From rocky desert to green forrest

We planted native species of Patagonia, Ñires, Coihues and Berberis.These plants come from our own tree nursery.

It is very imortant for us because this place 25 years ago was full of stones, and now is a forest!



Maria Eugenia Bertossi
San Ignacio Education Center - Fundación Cruzada Patagonica
Argentina


Teaser photo: © Gabi Bachmann / PIXELIO

 

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Sembrar arboles para ayudar al planeta
Las actividades de la Fundacion Santa Lola en el segundo día de la Semana Global del Clima

En el segundo día de la Semana Global del Clima, uno de los efectos del cambio climático, deja a medias las actividades programadas por Santa Lola.
 
(San Pedro de Macorís: 22 de septiembre de 2009). La mañana inició con un sol radiante en la República Dominicana, que fue aprovechada por la Fundación para distribuir sus cintas verdes como parte del compromiso de "Sellemos el Trato" en el Día Verde de la Semana Global del Clima. En pareja, se distribuían 22 cintas para que sean entregadas por los niños, niñas y adolescentes del Círculo de Estudios Medioambientales.
 


La tarde del martes, tuvo intensos aguaceros que provocaron inundaciones en las principales vías de tránsito de la ciudad de San Pedro de Macorís, lo que imposibilitó la realización completa del Segundo Día de "Plantemos para el Planeta", sin embargo en la mañana se pudo sembrar 13 árboles como apoyo a la campaña, aunque la misión era sembrar más en el día en el sector de Pedro Justo Carrión.

La Fundación Santa Lola, fue sede desde horas de la mañana para que invitados de honor pasaran a firmar el libro "Verde", con mensajes de conciencia, el cual fue llenado por varias personas amigas a la institución. Este libro, selló el segundo día junto a la siembra de árboles y la entrega de cintas verdes.
 


Jefri Jordani Bautista, Barrio Sarmiento, 13 años: "Me ha parecido bien sembrar árboles alguna vez en mi vida. Es bueno que alguien te vea haciéndolo, porque se motiva y lo hace y ayuda al Planeta", expresó el adolescente que pasó a firmar el libro en pleno aguacero. "Con la siembra de árboles estamos contribuyendo con la naturaleza", recalcó.

Uno de los efectos del cambio climático son las inundaciones que se origina producto de las lluvias intensas y este 22 de septiembre, que se conmemora el onceavo aniversario del Huracán George, estuvieron presentes causando el pánico de la población. La llamada de Santa Lola a toda la población es a la conciencia de vida más sostenible para un Planeta más sostenible.

Lic. Claudio Cordero
Fundación Santa Lola

 

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Children pledge to plant 205 million trees ? one million in each country of the world
Presenting "Stop Talking. Start Planting." in New York

New York, USA ? 21 September, 2009 ? While Heads of States are talking in the UN headquarters about climate change, the youth from around the world is taking action. "It is about our future. We cannot sit, listen and not act. Talking alone isn't going to stop the glaciers from melting. We demand politicians, fellow citizens, parents, businesses and other children: Stop talking. Start planting ? for the sake of our common future," said 11-year-old Felix Finkbeiner from Germany during the presentation of the campaign in New York with the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP, Achim Steiner, and Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai.

In this unique campaign 132 children from already 56 countries pledge to plant 1 million trees, in the next 3 years, in each of their countries to help reduce the adverse effects of climate change. Today the children of India too declared to plant 1 million trees. They have adopted the motto "Stop talking. Start planting." Campaign activities include worldwide tree planting drives and awareness raising through taking photos of world leaders, VIPs and high profile figures with a child's hand over their mouths. So far over hundred VIPs including Nobel Peace Laureate Rajendra Pachauri, Prime Minister South Korea Han Seung-soo, Chinese pop star Wei Wei and former President of Ireland Mary Robinson have taken part in the campaign. The latest additions were supermodel Gisele Bündchen and HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco. The children are also invited to address the UN General Assembly on 22 September 2009 to present their views on the debate on climate change in a 3 minute speech.



Generally the children are already active in 56 countries where they are following the pledge of planting at least 1 million trees. "We are currently still trying to expand our worldwide network. We want to reach a truly global movement ? and we are on the right track. In Germany the children will have planted the millionth tree by the end of this year. It all started with a class presentation I gave in grade 4 in January 2007 at my school near Munich when I shared my vision to plant a million trees in each country of the world with my class-mates", explained Felix, adding that Chinese pop star Wei Wei promised to soon present a special campaign song.

As a first call to action, the children aged between 10 and 14 are contacting their prime ministers and heads of state asking for action and their support by referring in personal letters to a two-page declaration that was written and approved by 800 children from 107 countries during the UNEP's International Children and Youth Conference in South Korea in August (www.plant-for-the-planet.org/press_release).

This declaration of the children and youth of the world, representing half of the world?s population, urge governments, civil society and individuals to stop talking and start planting. The children then go on to express their concerns about the future of the planet and call for radical measures to deal with climate change for future human health, job security and social development.

"We all know the problems. Now it?s time to act. Let?s waste no time and Stop talking. Start planting. Each time adults just talk and don?t act, it?s up to us, the children, to take matters into our own hands. Quite literally. As you can see, we aren?t just trying to save the world, we are trying to save our future too,? was the clear message Felix sent. The UN has heard the message and is supporting the campaign in the framework of their "Billion Tree Campaign".



More information:
Plant-for-the-Planet
Felix Finkbeiner
Kreuzeckstrasse 2, 82396 Paehl near Munich, Germany
Phone 0049 (0)8808 9345
Mobil 0049 (0)171 74 88 108

felix@plant-for-the-planet.org
www.plant-for-the-planet.org
www.sealthedeal2009.org

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UN's Billion Tree Campaign Hits its Seven Billion Goal Target
"Seven billion trees, seven billion commitments to action and seven billion reasons why governments should be inspired to Seal the Deal at the crucial UN climate change convention meeting in Copenhagen in less than 80 days' time." Achim Steiner

New York/Nairobi, 21 September 2009 - The global public's desire to see action on climate change was clearly spotlighted today with the announcement that the Billion Tree Campaign has reached 7 billion trees - one for every person on the planet.

Over the past three years millions of people ranging from scouts to presidents and from schoolchildren to city dwellers and corporate heads have been rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty for the environment through tree planting.



Today's milestone was reached with the news that the Government of China has planted 2.6 billion trees as part of this unique campaign, bringing the total to 7.3 billion trees planted in 167 countries worldwide.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said: "Seven billion trees, seven billion commitments to action and seven billion reasons why governments should be inspired to Seal the Deal at the crucial UN climate change convention meeting in Copenhagen in less than 80 days' time."

"When we first launched the Billion Tree Campaign in 2006, people truly responded. At first they planted hundreds of trees, then it was thousands, and then millions - and then we reached 1 billion trees. Then we made the bold decision to issue a call for the world to plant 7 billion trees, one for each person on the planet. And our target even got exceeded: the counter now stands at 7.3 billion trees. As the Secretary-General convenes Heads of State tomorrow for the Climate Summit, there can be no more powerful sign of people's will that we need to seal the deal in Copenhagen," he added.

"Above all the Billion Tree Campaign shows that the simple act of planting a tree resonates and unites the child in the slums of Africa with a president in Mexico, or a corporate CEO in Paris with UN peacekeepers in Timor-Leste. It is the kind of solidarity that now needs to be expressed at the level of all governments and heads of state between now and December in order to move economies towards a low carbon, sustainable path," said Mr Steiner.

The Billion Tree Campaign was launched jointly with the World Agroforestry Centre during the UN climate convention meeting in November 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya, under the patronage of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai and His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Its initial goal was to catalyze the pledging and the planting of one billion trees as a way of giving public expression to the challenges of climate change and also forest and ecosystem degradation.

Since then the Billion Tree Campaign has more than surpassed its aims, evolving into a true 'People's Campaign' - more than half (52 per cent) of all the participants are private individuals.

Furthermore, tree planting has become both an inter-faith and an inter-generational activity, with the trees symbolizing connections between children and parents and bringing together people from different religious backgrounds.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Kenyan Green Belt Movement and the campaign's co-patron, said: "Let's plant even more trees to celebrate this wonderful achievement, the fruit of collective action from people all over the planet. By making the Billion Tree Campaign such an incredible success, people from every continent are calling their governments to truly start caring for the planet and to find unity in the fight against climate change."

His Serene Highness Albert II, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco and the campaign's co-patron, said: "I have always had a strong belief in the symbolic strength of the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign and I am delighted that it has exceeded our greatest expectations, far beyond the welfare linked to replanting trees, to benefit future generations."

Highlights of the Billion Tree Campaign

In the past eight months China planted 6.1 billion trees, of which 2.6 billion have been given to the Billion Tree Campaign. With the announcement of these 2.6 additional billion trees, the grand total number of trees planted for the campaign stands at 7.3 billion as of 21 September. The government planted 260 different species of trees in eleven provinces around China, from Inner Mongolia to Yunnan and from Shandong to Sichuan.

The announcement was made in New York on 21 September at a press conference attended by international dignitaries, including Campaign Patrons Wangari Maathai and Prince Albert II of Monaco, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, China's Minister of the State Forestry Administration Jia Zhibang, and Mohamed Nasheed, the President of the Maldives. The announcement coincided with Global Climate Week, an event launched to mobilize global mass action around the UN high-level event on climate change - including the Global Tree Planting Drive on19 September where people were encouraged to plant trees on every corner of the planet.

A number of other countries around the world have planted impressive numbers of trees since the campaign was launched. Countries that have planted more than a hundred million trees range from Ethiopia (with 1.4 billion trees) and Turkey (711 million trees) to Mexico (with 537 million trees) and countries including Kenya, Cuba, and Indonesia.

In addition to bringing governments to take concrete action to reforest their lands, the Billion Tree Campaign has succeeded in catalyzing tree planting from all walks of society, bringing together creative, original and pioneering initiatives around the world.

To name a few, the Replant New Orleans Initiative sponsored a planting of fruit trees to help breathe new life into a community struggling with the aftermath of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina; the Greening Soweto Campaign is transforming dustbowls into treed lanes in Soweto by capitalizing on South Africa's preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup; and eleven-year-old Felix Finkbeiner is leading an ambitious campaign plant 1 million trees by December 2009, which he is already halfway towards achieving.

The economic gains of tree planting are powerfully illustrated by the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative. As well as being close to planting 38 million trees in the Appalachian region, the North American organization has also devised a green job tree planting proposal to stimulate the economy of Appalachia and reap the ecological benefits of a region-wide reforestation effort.

In addition, the Campaign has mobilized groups and individuals in post-conflict areas around the world, bringing the seeds of hope to communities in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Liberia and Somalia among others.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has planted 9 million trees in and around refugee camps around the globe, helping to plant hundreds of thousands of acres of trees in Asia and Africa since the 1990s.

The United Nations Departments of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Field Support (DFS) have also participated in the campaign, with thirteen peacekeeping missions having pledged 117,848 trees. Of this number 33,184 trees have already taken root across various countries hosting peacekeeping missions. The campaign, which encouraged the planting of indigenous trees appropriate to the local environments, has not only witnessed the participation and enthusiasm of UN staff, but also of the local communities in the different areas of operation.

The private sector has become a key player in the global campaign, accounting for almost 15 per cent of all the trees planted. Multinationals from Accor to Bayer and from Toyota to Coca-Cola East and Central Africa and Yves Rocher have been active tree planters, along with hundreds of small and medium-sized companies the world over.

The campaign's universal appeal is clear from its success on social networking sites, with some 4,000 blogs adopting the cause early in the campaign.

Proving true its motto that 'Every tree counts, and we count every tree', the Billion Tree Campaign's phenomenal success is a result of the participation of people of all walks of life and from every corner of the planet.

For more information please contact:

Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and Head of Media, on Tel: +254 20 7623084, Mobile: +254 733 632755, or when travelling: +41 795965737, or e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org

Anne-France White, UNEP Media, Mobile: +134 7633 5015, +254728600494 or e-mail: anne-france.white@unep.org

To the press release in
Arabic
Chinese
French
Portugese
Russian

© United Nations Environment Programme

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Tree planting and awareness raising projects in Guatemala
24 October day of action for children from Latin America

Andrea's plans for the project Ponle Nombre a un Arbol (give a name to a tree):

On October 24, will be in the world, the day of action on behalf of the environment, my action will be:
a) invite children leaders from different parts of Guatemala, schools, colleges, colonies, those who wish to participate.
b) training in three topics

Raise awareness of the current situation and the effects of global warming. Awaken in them the initiative to be leaders in their communities

Teach them about my project GIVE A NAME TO A TREE (talk about, looking for areas to plant trees, inviting children to plant a tree, motivate to name the tree, committed to caring)



For this, children come from Mexico, Argentina and Dominican Republic will be they who train. All will be working with the help of organizations that support them.

On October 24, these children trained, will planting tress, and doing what I do.

To Andrea's presentation in Spanish (pdf, 501 kB)

Andrea Gabriela Nava

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New Plant-for-the-Planet website lauched!
45 country sites are already online

Thanks to all of you who sent us translations for the sites!



We will keep working on it and will add more countries, reports and features within the next days and weeks. Have a look at www.plant-for-the-planet.org.

We thank our supporter NTT Europe online who is hosting the site for one year free of charge.

 

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500 t-shirts sent to you for the launch of the 1 million tree promise
Please send us your reports about your activities!

Children from 14 countries requested Plant-for-the-Planet t-shirts for the the launch of their national activities. We have sent the t-shirts last week and hope that they will get to you in time.

You want to know what's going on in other countries? You want to tell all the others which projects you are already pursuing or are involved in?

Just send us a short report and some photos. Please add the person names to the pictures or the region, the date, ? just all information which could be of interest to others.

Please send all materials to  info@plant-for-the-planet.org and we will publish it in one of the next editions of this newsletter.

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Children at the World Commons Forum in Salzburg
Send a video if you can't be there in person!

Maiken Hamaluba from Botswana, Felix Finkbeiner from Germany and about 30 children from Austria will attend the World Commons Forum in Salzburg on 29/30 September 2009.

They will present the campaign "Stop talking. Start planting." and inform the other participants about the concerns of their generation and urge them to act.



Milena Florek and Natalia Szutenbach from Poland will not be able to attend and will send a video message with their input. If you have a message for the adults congregated in Salzburg or if you want to announce your million tree goal at that occasion, please also record a short video message and send it to info@plant-for-the-planet.org. If the file is too lage to be sent by email, please contact us at the same address and we will get back to you.

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Tree planting activities in the Philippines
in support of Clean Up the World Weekend Campaign, Climate Week and Plant-for-the-Planet

We, in the Philippines, have been planting trees because trees are vital to our watersheds and rampant logging has compromised our water supplies and caused flashfloods especially during heavy rains.
 
On September 20th, we have successfully conducted another tree planting activity in support of Clean Up the World Weekend Campaign, Climate Week and Plant for the Planet Campaign.




 
Grace and Reuben

 

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La Fundacion Santa Lola, suscribe un acuerdo de apoyo a la campana Planteamos por el Planeta
y inicia en Republica Dominicana la Semana Global del Clima

(Daejeon, Corea del Sur: 19 de agosto de 2009)

El Director General de la Fundación Santa Lola Lic. Claudio Cordero y Cristopher Luederitz de Plantemos por el Planeta pactaron la difusión de la campaña en la República Dominicana.



El Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA) ha lanzado la campaña mundial para plantar árboles, denominada Plantemos para el Planeta: con el objetivo de sembrar Mil Millones de Árboles en todo el mundo, donde personas, comunidades, negocios, industrias, sociedad civil, organizaciones y gobiernos sean parte del esfuerzo mundial por lograr la marca, contribuyendo a través de la plantación de árboles. Para el 2009, la meta es llegar a los 7 mil millones de árboles sembrados.

La Fundación Santa Lola, viene apoyando Plantemos para el Planeta desde 2008, como miembro de la Red TUNZA, en el cual ha podido sembrar 186 árboles al mes de agosto de 2009.

Como planes futuros asumidos con mayor compromiso en Corea, la Fundación, estará plantando árboles en la ciudad de San Pedro de Macorís, en la Semana del Ambiente de 21 al 25 de septiembre, propuesta por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para dedicarle 5 días, especialmente al tema medioambiental y del cambio climático.

Los árboles serán frutales y se estarán entregando en barrios deforestados y pobres para que además de sombra y oxígeno, les puedan dar alimentos que sean utilizados como comercio informal. A decir del testimonio del niño Oscar Santana, de 12 años, que en verano de 2008 obtuvo una mata de chinola y hoy nos dice: "Mi árbol me ha dado 3 chinolas. Me siento feliz y orgulloso, porque mi abuela puede vender jugos con esa chinola. Ese árbol me ha puesto más feliz que nunca". Plantemos para el mundo, es una herramienta sustancial para el desarrollo sostenible del ambiente y de la economía del país.


La Fundación Santa Lola inicia en República Dominicana la SEMANA GLOBAL DEL CLIMA, apoyando la campaña: Plantemos para el Planeta.

(San Pedro de Macorís: 21 de septiembre de 2009). La Fundación Santa Lola, inició lo que ha sido bautizada por las Naciones Unidas como: "La Semana Global del Clima", uniendo esfuerzos en el llamado de acción para combatir el cambio climático.



En la tarde de este lunes, que es también el DÍA MUNDIAL DE LA PAZ, el equipo de Santa Lola se trasladó al Barrio Buenos Aires, en la provincia de la sede central de la entidad, donde se entregaron a diversos hogares los árboles frutales donados por el Ayuntamiento Municipal del Alcade Ramón Antonio Echavarría (Miembro de Honor de Santa Lola).
De igual forma, se realizaron asambleas pacíficas con jóvenes del sector marginal donde se estuvo invitando a que colaboren con el medioambiente, con pequeñas acciones como la siembra de árboles, el uso de transporte público, el ahorro del agua y otros medios fáciles de cuidado ambiental.



"Lo más importante es que los jóvenes puedan integrarse en esta jornada. Nosotros como parte de la Fundación, excavamos los hoyos y sembramos los árboles y vemos cómo se integran fácilmente, que lo que ha faltado es motivación e impulso", manifestó el Director General Claudio Cordero en el sector.

Daniel Hernández, el Secretario de Santa Lola acompañó a la delegación, quien tomó de un discapacitado una expresión: "Hay que contribuir con el medioambiente", quien estuvo tan emocionado que le pidió a su madre que permita sembrar los árboles en su casa.

Se entregaron sticket de promoción de Plantemos para el Planeta, que fueron cedidos en la Conferencia Internacional TUNZA, en Corea.

En horas de la noche, la Catedral San Pedro Apóstol fue escenario de una Misa de Acción de Gracias para la Semana Global del Clima.

Lic. Claudio Cordero

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Tree Planting Day in Botswana on 21 September 2009
Maiken Hamaluba explains about ENO's activities

Maiken comes from Botswana and is also a member of UNEP's Tunza junior board, representing Africa.



She's just one of many children around the world contributing to the 205 million tree goal of the children of the world.

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100 days before Copenhagen
Here are 100 things you didn't know about Copenhagen!

We hope you already know that the most important climate meeting evah will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Dec. 7 to 18. If all goes according to plan at the gathering - known in wonk-speak as COP15 - world leaders will hash out a new global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Now, some things you don?t know about Copenhagen and the climate talks:

[...]

2. The climate talks could spur a mini-boom in prostitution in the city.

3. MTV is sponsoring climate concerts in the lead-up to Copenhagen.

4. Oct. 24 is an International Day of Climate Action intended to prod leaders to get serious ahead of the Copenhagen talks.

5. 12,000 to 15,000 people are expected to attend the conference, and thousands more journalists, NGO reps, activists, and rabble-rousers will also come to town.

6. The Yes Men have launched a site where people can pledge to engage in civil disobedience the week before the Copenhagen talks to demand serious climate action.

7. Hey, ladies: It's now legal to go topless at Copenhagen's public pools.

8. Oxfam has celebrities painting their faces blue for its "Blue in the Face" campaign: demand action on climate change from leaders at Copenhagen until you're blue in the face!

9. The average December in Copenhagen has 17 days of rain and a temperature of 28 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

10. U.S. President Barack Obama has done some serious thinking about Copenhagen. Grist's David Roberts explains.

If you would like to read on, click here.

Source: grist.org

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"I will plant a million trees in my country!"
Inform the media about your pledge

You can announce your pledge anytime, many will do it between September 19th and 29th.

Find the first draft of a press release here for your national press announcement (doc) here.

We recommend that you prepare the following:

• a press release, you are welcome to use the draft we provide above
  
• invite journalists to a press conference
  
• help to translate the website, so that the landing page for your country can be launched soon
  

Ask you chaperon, your organization or your teacher for help. Adults are generally very supportive and should be happy to assist you.

We will provide the following:

• launch a new website with sub pages for each country until September 19th
  
• provide campaign t-shirts
• organize a media event in Salzburg (world-commons-forum.org) on September 29th 2009, you're welcome to join the event where Austria and some other countries will announce their pledge of a million trees. The password to sign in is collective-intelligence
  
• uploaded the short film to Youtube, with the subtitles you provided
  

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The Promise of Daejeon
Hundreds of children promised to plant a million trees in their countries

After having heard that it takes about three years to plant one million trees, children decide to shape their future. 550 future leaders out of 107 countries voted for a clear signal to today's leaders at the UNEP TUNZA International Children and Youth Conference in South Korea. The children's contribution to the world community are millions of trees.




We want to post the above film on Youtube and need your help to add more subtitles in different languages. Please send us the translation in your language by September 15th to info@plant-for-the-planet.org.

So far, we have the English, French, German and Spanish version of the sentence:

• Everybody who is going to plant one million trees in their country come up on the stage!
• Jeder, der 1 Million Bäume in seinem Land pflanzen möchte, soll auf die Bühne kommen.
• Toute personne qui souhaite planter 1 million d'arbres dans son pays, doit monter sur scène.
• El que quiera plantar un millon de arboles en su pais que suba al escenario.

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Adults all over the world support the children: From Kofi Annan to Wei Wei
Felix presents Plant-for-the-Planet at the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva and at the Tällberg Forum in Sweden.

Ruthie Gospin and Felix then presented Plant-for-the-Planet at the Caux Forum at the Conference on Human Security attended by over 400 representatives from over 30 countries. The host Georffy Lean, Editor of the Daily Telegraph promised to suppport the children. Rajmohan Gandhi repeated his grandfather's famous quote: "Be the change you want to see in the world" and promisetd to also support the children. Riek Machar, Teny Dhurgon, Vicepresident of the Sudan, Moise Nyarugabo, Minister of Economy of the Congo and more followed his lead.

Prince El Hassan bin Talal, who started supporting the student initative last year, was the keynote speaker.

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Plant-for-the-Planet News
Mixed monthly news from the students' initiative

For just 3 Euros you will receive the sticker ?Boatpeople? by bildwiese ® on a postcard and we will plant a tree for you in Congo or Costa Rica.
The post-free sticker can be ordered from maike.grundmann@plant-for-the-planet.org or in the Plant-for-the-Planet onlineshop here.

Plant-for-the-Planet in Vöcklabruck, Austria

On the occasion of the Northern Austrian Environmental days, a special event was hosted in the Stadtsaal in Vöcklabruck on June 5th on climate protection. Almost 200 students, their teachers and the mayor of the city Vöcklabruck, Mag. Herbert Brunsteiner enjoyed the event and were motivated to follow Felix Finkbeiner?s footsteps in taking the future into their own hands.

Should you plant a tree?

Take this test to find out if you?re destined to plant a tree.

Design by Jonna Mayer

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11-year-old becomes successor of Angela Merkel
Duisburg Environmental Days 2009

11-year-old Felix Finkbeiner is stepping into the footsteps of Angela Merkel by becoming the youngest ever patron of the Duisburg Environmental Days 2009.

At age 9 he founded the now nationally active student initiative Plant-for-the-Planet with the goal to plant a million trees by the end of 2009. Now he was invited to become the patron of the annual, nationally acclaimed environmental program in Duisburg to honor his commitment to climate justice.

More information about the Duisburg Environmental Days 2009

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The bet
Youth organization in Sandl exceeds initial goal by more than double

Supporting the student initiative Plant-for-the-Planet, the youth organization in Sandl bet against mayor Alois Pils that they would manage to plant 100 tress on May 17th 2009. 

In cooperation with Austria's 1 million trees campaign, the youth organization was able to plant 100 trees during the "rubber boots throwing competition". With the 50? wager from the mayor, additional 154 trees were able to be donated to Plant-for-the-Planet?s reforestation project in Ecuador.

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A symbolic tree for Dresden
Large-scale 100.000 trees campaign to start in the fall

 Within the national student initiative Plant-for-the-Planet, students from the Gymnasium Bürgerwiese planted a symbolic maple tree in attendance of  principal Jens Reichel,  chief officer for public greens and solid waste management Detlef Thiel, division manager of the Akademie der Sächsischen Landesstiftung Natur und Umwelt Dr. Hans-Joachim Gericke, chief executive officer of the Lokale Agenda 21 für Dresden e.V. Silke Timm and other prominent guests.

The tree is a first sign of the Plant-for-the-Planet planting campaign that starts this fall.

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Prince El Hassan of Jordan enthusiastic about Plant for the Planet
Hans Küng honors the Augsburg Peace Prize 2008 recipient

On October 18th Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan has was awarded the Augsburg Peace Prize.  Prof. Dr. Hans Küng gave the address.

Dr. Ernst Oeffner, prize jury chairman spoke of Prince El Hassan as a "bridge-builder between East and West", "tireless organizer of dialogue between religions" and "inspirational visionary for a future, in which the world religions work together for peace, justice and a sustainable integrity for all creatures", making the decision to honor him with the Augsburg Peace Prize a logical choice.

From this vision Prince Hassan has engaged in working on an initiative for a Coalition for the Global Commons that together with the youth initiative Plant for the Planet, supports a youth participation platform. 



Picture source: City Augsburg
Felix Finkbeiner took the opportunity to present Prince Hassan the youth initiative and a Plant for the Planet t-shirt.
 

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Al Gore meets Plant for the Planet
Munich, October 17, 2008

Before his speech at the Munich Public Water Economy, Al Gore was presented a Plant for the Planet t-shirt by Felix Finkbeiner. The Nobel Prize winner was so impressed by the youth initiative, that he later referred to it in his speech as a good example of how people, particularly children can get involved.

For more information please read the article from the Münchener Merkur from October 18, 2008 (in German).



At the same event Felix presented the youth initative to Christian Ude, Mayor of Munich (above) and spoke with Sigmar Gabriel about climate justice (below).

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Prince (50) and Felix (10) Unite with a Common Vision
Each newly planted tree is a symbol for climate justice.

Children speak directly to our hearts. Their message: it's child's play.

When an entire generation pulls together, practically anything is possible.

Prompted by the resonance that Felix sparked, the Global Marshall Plan Foundation together with various partners launched a learning concept tailored for educators and students, which through 2010 should teach at least 1,000 German and Austrian children around Felix's age to plant tress and bring the vision of climate justice a little closer to home for people.

Their message: We children want to play a role in the shaping of the future.

Prof. Peter Kruse and his team from nextpractice support the participation process and have designed a website for the student initiative. Dr. Maiken Winter, a collaborator on Al Gore?s Climate Project, is responsible for the educational elements. Oliver Strasser coordinates the partners. Timothy Klofski is the liaison for students and children.

Prince Albert and Felix are agreed that each one of their trees should be a symbol for climate justice.

Monday, September 23 in Munich at the invitation of the Foreign Affairs Association Felix described his vision of climate justice to the 200 guests.





Prince Albert II honored Felix with the 'Needle of Monaco'.

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UNEP website again to report about Plant for the Planet Germany

The Plant for the Planets activities for the International Day of the Tree (Arbor Day) resulted in unexpected participation and attention. Over 300 German newspapers, radio and TV stations were prompted to report on this student initiative.  The UNEP Billion Tree Campaign website also reports our activities.

Meanwhile the Billion Tree Campaign increased its own goal to 7 billion trees - from planned 1 billion in the beginning of the campaign.

 

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Plant-for-the-Planet News January
Succes of 2007 will be continued in 2008

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German Toyota Dealers donate 10,000 trees
10 years old Felix Finkbeiner presented the Plant-for-the-Planet project

On the national meeting of the German Toyota Dealers Association (THV) the 10 years old Felix Finkbeiner gave a speech, explaining the concept of the Plant-for-the-Planet-Initiative.

Burkard Weller, president of the association spontaneously donated 10,000 trees. Many dealers agreed to organise local events togehter with schools on 25 April 2008, the International Day of the Tree.

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Planting trees in Australia and the UK
Going international

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