Earth Day and The Canopy Project

In 2010, Earth Day Network planted over 1 million trees in 16 countries under the Avatar Home Tree Initiative. In 2011, EDN will continue that effort with another 1 million trees in partnership with non‐profit organizations throughout the world. Locations where reforestation is most urgently needed include Haiti, Brazil, Mexico and urban areas of the US.

Every tree planted in 2011 as part of Earth Day Network’s Canopy Project will be counted in its Billion Acts of Green, the campaign to reward and inspire simple individual acts as well as larger corporate, governmental and organizational acts, with the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability.

Below are some of the unique projects that Earth Day Network and the Avatar Home Tree Initiative supported in 2010.

New York City – MillionTreesNYC plants trees throughout New York City’s five boroughs, focusing on low- to middle-income communities to increase green spaces in the community and improve urban environmental health for area residents. MillionTreesNYC participated in the Initiative through their fall Reforestation Day’s city-wide tree plantings.

San Francisco – Since 1981, Friends of the Urban Forest has helped San Franciscans to plant and care for street trees and sidewalk gardens, thereby supporting the health and livability of the urban environment. The organization conducted plantings in low-income neighborhoods, resulting in increased community interaction and cooperation.

Los Angeles – TreePeople is a Los Angeles-based non-profit whose mission is to improve the urban environment of the city by planting trees. TreePeople’s Fruit Tree Program will provide low-income families, school children and community residents with a source of free fruit to help alleviate hunger, address childhood diabetes and obesity, improve nutrition, and provide shade, beauty and cleaner air now and for decades to come.

Australia – Landcare Australia worked with national parks and land care groups to help restore vulnerable areas of metropolitan New South Wales and Victoria, focusing on areas with unique and threatened animal species.

Belgium – Vereniging voor Bos in Vlaanderen, or Organization for Forests in Flanders, worked to combat the environmental effects of intensive livestock and agricultural production by working with private landowners in Flanders to reforest their properties.

Brazil – To combat agricultural expansion and urban sprawl, SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation worked with local communities to plant native trees as a means to restore the Atlantic Forest, one of the most biologically diverse and severely threatened forest ecosystems in the world.

Canada – Tree Canada joined the Avatar Home Tree Initiative to restore 800 hectares (1,976 acres) of pine forest of southeastern Manitoba on land that was devastated by hurricane-force winds in 2005.

France – With its bi-cultural mission, Kinomé’s Trees & Life program helped 9- and 10-year-old children in southern France plant their own trees. For every tree the children planted in France, kids of the same age in Senegal planted two trees, thus advancing global reforestation and intercultural awareness.

Germany – The Berlin Energy Agency’s environmental youth organization, Club-E, planted trees in southern Berlin as part of its mission to raise awareness among young people about sustainable development and lifestyles and to promote job opportunities for young people in the green economy.

Haiti – Trees for the Future, a U.S.-based organization that works with Haitian farmers to bring degraded lands back to productivity through the planting of beneficial trees, worked with communities to plant fruit and other native trees using sustainable agroforestry practices. Their work helped combat centuries of environmental degradation and natural disasters, including the catastrophic January 2010 earthquake.

Italy – The community and Municipality of San Giovanni in Persiceto took on the Cassa Budrie reforestation project. They worked to restore and preserve a local wetland and forest located on a major flood plain, helping to promote local water security and prevent soil erosion. Other objectives of the project are biodiversity recovery and the creation of a local carbon sink to combat global climate change.

Japan – To create a sustainable future, a tailored tree-planting at a Japanese school gave students and teachers the opportunity to plant trees on their campus and engage in related environmental education and school greening activities.

Mexico – Sierra Gorda Ecological Group (SGEG) has been working since 1987 to protect the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, the most ecologically diverse protected area of Mexico. The SGEG worked with local communities and farmers to reforest both agricultural land and pristine forests, directly benefiting local communities as local watersheds are restored.

The Netherlands – Stichting wAarde, or the Earth Value Foundation, worked with local youth to plant trees in areas around Amsterdam and Utrecht. The planted trees not only engage youth and communities in learning about their local environment, but improve air quality, create healthier outdoor spaces and restore urban habitats for wildlife.

Spain – Plantemos Para el Planeta ambitiously aims to reforest Spain by planting one tree for every Spaniard. The group worked to reforest the southeastern Costa del Sol, which was ravaged by wildfire in 2009, and to create recreation spaces for individuals to appreciate the beauty of nature.

Sweden – Under Sweden’s Skogen i Skolan, or Forest in School program, children and their teachers go on excursions to plant spruce, pine, birch and beech trees in northeast Sweden with professional guidance and intensive environmental and reforestation education.

United Kingdom – The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with only four percent native woodland cover. Leading woodland conservation charity, The Woodland Trust is encouraging community groups across the UK to transform their local area by planting more native trees for the benefit of local people, wildlife and the environment as part of the Trust’s ‘More Trees, More Good’ campaign. Communities can apply for free tree packs and receive support via an online advice centre.