“Plant a Tree for Peace” Campaign
Calls for Tree Planting Worldwide on December 10^th

Action Celebrates Wangari Maathai Winning 2004 Nobel Peace Prize
and Commemorates International Human Rights Day

Bangkok, Thailand, November 20, 2004
Press release by FIRE

Lorena Aguilar, Gender Advaisor IUCN and June Zeitlin, Director, WEDO

“By planting a tree, you will be planting a seed of peace,” declared Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, as quoted by Lorena Aguilar at a press conference on November 19th when Aguilar announced the launching in Thailand of the worldwide Plant a Tree for Peace Campaign.  The campaign is calling for people and groups around the world to plant a tree on December 10th, the day when Wangari Maathai will receive the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and also is International Human Rights Day.   To launch the campaign, the first three, a Thai jasmine,  was planted at the IUCN Asia office in Bangkok, Thailand.  This global action led by women is designed to link the environment, peace and human rights issues.  For example, many conflicts and wars today are fought over natural resources, ranging from land to oil to water.

This initiative, which is the first concrete action of the 3^rd World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Bangkok, Thailand, was organized by WEDO (Women, Environment and Development Organization) and IUCN.  Aguilar is Senior Gender Advisor of IUCN (World Conservation Union), which is holding the WCC.

Deforestation and desertification are serious problems in many countries.  Each minute, 40 hectares (99 acres) of forest are destroyed around the world.  Desertification is the gradual transformation of habitable land into desert caused by destructive use of the land or climate change.  Worldwide, of each 100 hectares (230 acres) of land, 60 hectares (138 acres) or 36 million square kilometers (22.4 million square miles) worldwide are in a process of degradation through loss of forest or desertification,. 

Women are particularly affected by deforestation, because they typically gather forest products for fuel, fencing, food for the family, fodder for livestock and raw materials to produce natural medicines, which help increase family income.

Wangari Maathai is renowned for having led the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, which she launched in 1997 with the 50,000-strong National Council for Women.  It all began when Wangari planted a tree in her backyard.  Since then they have created a network of 6,000 village nurseries and planted 20 million trees in order to combat desertification and erosion (UNEP, Women and the Environment, 2004).

Persons or groups may join the campaign by planting a tree on December 10^th, or donating money to the Green Belt Movement for trees to be planted around the world.  They are asked to plant only trees that are native to the location, and avoid planting genetically modified varieties.