Eden Reforestation Projects is a is a 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to provide fair wage employment to impoverished villagers as agents of global forest restoration. They hire the poorest of the poor to grow, plant, and guard to maturity native species forest on a massive scale.
The healthy forests they plant absorb carbon out the atmosphere and do wonders for the land they’re planted on, whilst giving hope to tens of thousands of families.
How it cleans up the planet:
In developing areas around the world, many communities are forced to destroy their local environment to survive. Having no alternative to things like cutting down trees for construction, fuel, heat, and agricultulture is commonplace. Deforestation is a tragedy for the environment because it can cause flooding, erosion of the land, and desertification (the destruction of soils). It also obviously means fewer trees absorbing carbon.
Eden Reforestation Projects hires and trains local villagers to plant trees, and protect them to make sure they grow. The top seedling survival rate is over 80% and even higher when trees can grow naturally by themselves. As the reforestation effort goes on, healthy forests begin to emerge and the devastating effects of deforestation begin to disappear. Along with this, native plants and animals thrive.
Since the project began in 2004, over 384 million trees have been planted around the world in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Nepal, Haiti, Indonesia, Mozambique, Kenya, and Central America. By the year 2025, the project’s objective is to plant a minimum of 500 million trees each year.
Hats off to former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, and Dr. Stephen Fitch for coming up with the idea all those years ago. And to all the others who made their vision a reality, planting tree after tree.
How it helps local communities:
The regions most affected by deforestation are usually also very poor and underdeveloped. Eden Reforestation Projects helps change that by providing fair wage employment to villagers in order to plant and maintain the trees. They hire the poorest communities to grow, plant, and guard to maturity native-species forests on a massive scale.
This “employ to plant methodology” means giving people a consistent income so they can provide for their families again. Through steady employment, families can begin to afford daily necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and medicine.
By the year 2025 the project aims to plant a minimum of 500 million trees each year and by doing so, to offer hope through the employment of tens of thousands of people in countries experiencing extreme poverty.
Learn more on the Eden Reforestation Projects site here: https://edenprojects.org/
