TOP UN OFFICIAL LAUDS PAKISTAN’S GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR TREE PLANTING

The top United Nations environment official has lauded Pakistan's efforts in setting a Guinness World Record for planting over 500,000 trees in one day, part of the South Asian nation's pledge in the global Billion Tree Campaign.

In the record-breaking feat, 541,176 young mangrove saplings were planted in 24 hours by 300 volunteers on 15 July without using any mechanical equipment in the vast wetlands of the Indus River Delta in Thatta District, according to a news release issued by the UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/">UNEP).

The event was part of Pakistan's pledge to plant 120 million trees in UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign, which seeks to plant 7 billion trees – or one for every person on the planet, with a bit to spare – by the end of 2009.

"The Billion Tree Campaign has been setting records since it was launched in 2006 as one avenue and conduit for global public concern over climate change," <"http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=593&ArticleID=6257&l=en">noted UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

He added that Pakistan's Guinness World Record will contribute to the goal of 7 billion trees by December, when world leaders gather for the UN climate change conference in Denmark to "seal the deal" on a new global pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which contains legally binding targets for reducing emissions.

"I am ever more confident that this record can be broken too and inspire governments to 'seal the deal' in Copenhagen in December," Mr. Steiner added.

With the destruction of natural forests emitting more greenhouse gases every year than the transport sector, planting trees – which absorb carbon dioxide and store nearly 300 gigatonnes of carbon in their biomass – is a crucial defence in the fight against global warming.

Mangroves, which are being cut down in Pakistan and other countries for fodder, fuel and timber, are particularly useful in carbon sequestration. In addition to providing a breeding ground for fish and other wildlife, mangroves protect coastlines from erosion as well as tsunamis.

The previous record for the most trees planted in a single day was held by India with 447,874 trees, UNEP noted.

UN TREE-PLANTING CAMPAIGN REACHES 4 BILLION MARK

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today that its campaign to plant 7 billion trees worldwide – in a bid to pressure nations to "seal the deal" on an ambitious new climate change pact this December – has passed the halfway mark.

More than 4 billion saplings have been planted as part of UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign, which has mobilized thousands of people in 166 countries to put more trees on the planet by the end of 2009.

The milestone was reached following confirmation by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture that an additional 687 million trees were planted in 2008 under the country's national tree planting scheme.

UNEP also planted a tree for each of the more than 10,000 people who signed up for the 'Twitter for Trees' initiative on the internet-based social networking site Twitter by World Environment Day on 5 June.

Groups such as the World Organization of the Scouts Movement, with 28 million members in 160 countries, committed to plant 65,000 trees, while blue helmets in Timor-Leste, Côte D'Ivoire, Darfur, Lebanon, Haiti, Congo, Georgia, Liberia and Western Sahara also joined the campaign on World Environment Day.

The Billion Tree Campaign reached the three billion milestone less than two month ago, when the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forests announced that collective efforts by the Government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society had led to the planting of over 300 million trees in 2008.

The latest participants in the campaign include the Pakistan Ministry of Environment and Forests, which has pledged to plant 120 million trees, and Turkmenistan, which has committed to plant close to 1.5 million trees this year.

UNEP said that trees help conserve soil and water, control avalanches, prevent desertification, protect coastal areas and stabilize sand dunes, and in addition to absorbing carbon dioxide, trees store nearly 300 gigatonnes of carbon in their biomass alone.

Negotiations on a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012, are expected to wrap up at a UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December.
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UN DRIVE TURNS TO INTERNET TO REACH GOAL OF 7 BILLION NEW TREES

UN DRIVE TURNS TO INTERNET TO REACH GOAL OF 7 BILLION NEW TREES
New York, May 12 2009 2:00PM
Ahead of World Environment Day, celebrated globally on 5 June, the United Nations today announced an ambitious tree-planting target in a bid to push governments into reaching agreement on a climate change pact in Copenhagen this December.

The UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=585&ArticleID=6161&l=en">UNEP) has appealed to the world to help its effort to plant seven billion trees by the end of the year, coinciding with the UN Climate Change Conference which aims to draw up a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

To date, some 3.1 billion trees have been planted in 166 countries, and "whether you choose to plant one tree or thousands," UNEP would like you to register your tree planting pledge on its Billion Tree Campaign <"http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/">website, it said a news release.

In addition, the agency has pledged to plant a tree for each person who joins its campaign on the internet-based social networking site "Twitter" between now and 5 June. UNEP hopes to <"http://twitter.com/UNEPandYou">attract 100,000 people on Twitter by <"http://www.unep.org/wed/2009/english/">World Environment Day and in turn plant the same number of trees for its Billion Tree Campaign.

"If we are to reach the goal of seven billion trees planted by the crucial UN climate convention meeting in December, UNEP needs your support from schools and associations to governments, businesses and individual citizens," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

If half the world planted just one sapling between now and World Environment Day, it would send "a powerful statement too to world leaders and the need to seal the climate deal in less than 200 days time," added Mr. Steiner

The World Environment Day global tree-planting drive is the first in a series of mass participation events planned as part of the UN-led "Seal the Deal!" campaign in the lead-up the UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen.
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BILLION TREE CAMPAIGN GROWS PAST 3 BILLION MARK, SAYS UN AGENCY

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

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

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

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

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

With slightly over 700 million trees planted to date, Turkey now attains second position in the list of top 10 countries in the Campaign's roll of honour. The leading country remains Ethiopia with 725 million trees planted, UNEP said.

Mexico, with 472,404,266 trees planted to date, Kenya with 139,893,668 and Cuba with 137,476,771 round out the top five in the sylvan effort.

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

In total, 3,071,704,993 trees have been planted around the world. So far, another 1,578,796,459 trees have been pledged and have yet to be planted.

UNEP is now making an appeal to UN peacekeeping missions and the armed forces of the world to also join in the Campaign by planting trees in areas where they operate.

The agency is further inviting all individuals, communities, businesses, civil society organizations and Governments to join the global tree-planting initiative by registering tree-planting commitments on the campaign's website.
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