RSSOne Ethiopian Who Could Change The World By Planting Trees
Apr 16
Africa Additional Income, Africa, Agricultural Research Centre, American Citizen, Average Temperature, Coexistence, Continent, Deforestation, Enough Money, environment, Environmental Issues, Erosion, Farmers, Forest, Forests, Greenpeace, Handful, industry, Initial Success, Jungle, Media Coverage, Muslim Youths, Plant Trees, Planting Trees, timber, Traditional Crops, Trees, Two Acres No Comments
In 2006 Gashaw Tahir, an Ethiopian born American citizen, travelled back to his homeland and was horrified at the toll deforestation had taken on the landscape. The mountains were bare, rivers had dried up, and rising temperatures were killing other plant life. Tahir was motivated to do something to change this but he had no idea how influential it would be.
He needed land so he asked the council for a plot to plant trees, to his surprise they gave him two acres and enough money to hire a handful of youths from the village to help him. He hired a mix of Christian and Muslim youths, promoting coexistence, and gave them money to buy clothes and books for school.
“My ultimate vision is making Africa green again,” he says. “That inspires me, touches me, and moves me into action.” Because of the initial success and the word spreading, Tahir was given 1000 workers and 11,000 acres by the government and is now recognised as a ‘National Green Hero’. His projects have received huge media coverage and inspired similar projects across Ethiopia and Africa.
The new forests will fight erosion, provide food and additional income for the population. The new trees will be more sustainable as they can provide food rather than being cut down for money to buy food.
As well as the forestation projects, Tahir set up an agricultural research centre to educate the 80% of the population who work as farmers. The centre teaches modern techniques for planting and harvesting new and traditional crops.
Since the start of the project in 2006, researchers have noticed some significant environmental changes, they documented a visible drop in the average temperature and a vast improvement in the regions ecology. Tahir not only aims to raise awareness of environmental issues in his country and continent but also aims to empower young people. “With these young people, when I give them a job, when I give them hope, when they get money, they are empowered,” he said. “They see it.
Many sustainable timber suppliers use sustainable forestry to maintain their industry and the environment. hardwood timber production is the cause for almost all the worlds deforestation.