Ecuador Just Set The World Record For Reforestation

[polly7]

May 19, 2015 by Amanda Froelich

More than 45,000 people came together last weekend and set the Guinness World Record for single-day reforestation efforts.


Credit: islamicinvitationturkey.com

You often hear saddening statistics about the rate of deforestation from ecologically-minded friends and the news, but how often do you hear about the good that is being carried out to reverse environmental damage? Not as often, that’s for sure.

Therefore relish this news story, which features more than 45,000 people coming together to set the Guinness World Record for single-day reforestation efforts.

Credit: BusinessInsider

As stated by Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, “Ecuador broke a world record for reforestation Saturday, as thousands of people pitched in to plant 647,250 trees of more than 200 species.”

On May 16, 2015, thousands of people gathered to volunteer and reforest the Earth. They planted 220 different species of flora on almost 5,000 acres of land, setting a new Guinness World Record.

As Ecuador has set a national target to conserve and restore more land than what is deforested between 2008 and 2017, such a project will no doubt help the country maintain its vision.

Credit: ThinkProgress.org

Full article: http://www.trueactivist.com/ecuador-just-set-the-world-record-for-reforestation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TrueActivist+%28True+Activist%29

[central scrutinizer]

1. former tree planter here

Back in the 1970s, there was a LOT of tree planting going on in the Pacific Northwest. Our crew of 15 people planted 1000 each or more each day. The contractor we worked for ran several crews. So his company did over 100,000 trees each day. There were lots of other contractors running lots of crews throughout Oregon and Washington. Had to total well over 1,000,000 each day, day after day, week after week, from November-June. About 700 trees per acre. Pretty much all Douglas Fir - monoculture. But there was no effort to quantify it or celebrate it to go for a record - it was just a grueling, dirty, wet job.

[polly7]

2. I have a good friend who did the same in northern BC ...

he also said it was hard, hard work. He'd worked it for two summers to pay for his university costs, then was hurt badly when he was crushed between two semi trailers, and ended up staying with me flat on his back with an open-book fractured pelvis for about ten weeks.

I planted about 4,000 trees for shelterbelts in the fields and in the yard on our farm - by sitting nearly on the ground on this little contraption and being pulled behind a tractor placing them in as fast as I could - also a few hundred by hand. I watered and hoed them for three years every night after work. The previous owner appeared to have hated trees, he had gotten rid of every last one. The fields and yard are beautiful now. Those tiny little seedlings were all free and given to landowners by the PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration) The program is cancelled now, which is a shame.

I love trees and what they do for the environment, I'm so glad to see what these people have done and hope it sets an example.