Shanghai Roots & Shoots

10.10.10 Video.


About Shanghai Roots & Shoots:

The mission of Roots & Shoots is to inspire passion and empower young people to take positive action for the environment and all living things through education. The program organizes after school clubs and in-school curriculum that involves students from pre-school to university level. In Shanghai, the organization has more than 200 school groups participating in seven ongoing programs. In the words of Roots & Shoots founder, Dr. Jane Goodall, “Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”
The program we would like to focus on is The Million Tree Project- our initiative to plant one million trees on the desertified lands of Kulun Qi, Inner Mongolia. Desertification is the natural degradation of dryland ecosystems and is caused by a combination of natural causes and man-made causes such as such as clear-cutting of forests for firewood and unchecked grazing for livestock farming both of which put incredible strain on the environment.

Our plan is to plant one million trees in the area by 2014 in order to revitalize the previously lush grasslands as well as curb incoming sandstorms that expand existing desert. The hybrid poplars we plant also serve to sequester carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Currently, we have planted 400,000 trees in the ground and have reclaimed over 3.5 million square meters of desertified land.

Our program demonstrates true capacity building by working with the farmers of Kulun Qi to plant and to care for the trees. Through the employment of local farmers, the Million Tree Project teaches sustainable methods of tree planting and farming so that farmers are empowered to reclaim the land.
Countering desertification is but one part of this complex call to action. The future of Kulun Qi lies in the hands of its people. And environmental action is necessary to create a sustainable forestry industry that will improve the local livelihood. Not only does the Million Tree Project encourage them to grow trees in a new and innovative fashion, it is educating them on the importance of sustainability. At the root of it, carbon sequestration is as much fighting global warming as it is fighting poverty alleviation.

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