Earth Day Network Plants 350,000 Trees in Uganda

Earth Day Network completed a tree-planting project in central Uganda today that saw 350,000 trees planted in three high-poverty districts: Kiboga-Kyankwanzi, Kayunga and Kamuli. We planted the trees in partnership with Trees for the Future and local farmers as the first phase of our September 2012 commitment to the Global Poverty Project to plant 10 million trees in impoverished areas of the world in five years.

In the Kiboga-Kyankwanzi District, farmers are planting trees for fuel wood, animal fodder, construction materials, and intercropping. In the Kayunga District, families are planting trees for timber, to prevent soil erosion and mitigate the effects of storms, and to create living fences to protect their land from being seized by corrupt and influential farmers. In the Kamuli District, farmers are planting trees to create boundaries on their land and to provide fodder for cattle, which they are keeping to produce raw material for a biogas project in the district.

The plantings are the latest installment for Earth Day Network’s Canopy Project, which has planted over 1.2 million trees in 18 countries since 2010.

Rather than focusing on large-scale forestry, The Canopy Project plants trees that bolster local economies and help communities sustain themselves.

The project in Uganda was made possible by a grant from The UPS Foundation.

You can help, too. For every dollar you donate, we’ll plant a tree in an area of the world that needs it most. Click here to chip in.