PLANT A TREE , GET A SHOE
Planting a tree is often a child’s first act of volunteering for their community; Tree planting gives children ‘a sense of belonging’. When they’re planting a tree or a shrub, the child is literally putting down roots in their community. Psychological research shows a correlation between childhood contact with nature and better mental health.
We are in touch with other organizations but there are not so many. We’re trying to organize something together to inspire other people to join. You can’t fight climate change alone. There are people fighting against plastic pollution, against use of coal. The goal is the same: fighting for the environment, fighting against climate change.
Ugandan Climate Activists Fight Deforestation by Planting
How to finance renewable energy may be the dominant question in global public policy discussions of climate change. But at a very local level, two Ugandan activists are making the case that when communities get involved, climate adaptation doesn’t have to cost much.
It all begins with local micro-climates. Prolonged periods of drought and erratic rainfalls have become more frequent due to massive deforestation. In the past 20 years, Uganda has lost over a million hectares of tree cover—nearly a third of the country’s total. The knock-on effects on the country’s biodiversity and climate are large but can be mitigated through rain and flood-resistant infrastructure, improved water mapping, conservation, and thoughtful tree planting. HFJF-A staff estimates that actions like these could reduce GDP losses from natural disasters by two-thirds and almost halve the resulting fiscal gap.
With Uganda losing hundreds of hectares of forest every year to population pressures and illegal logging, community involvement is key, and Uganda’s youth are taking the lead