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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Tree Planting Trend Goes Corporate in Costa Rica


Yesterday one hundred people from the province of Alajuela gathered together and planted 3 trees each. Fruit trees, ornamental and timber trees found a new place in the Madre Verde Reserve of Palmares, in Alajuela. This activity, part of the Naturally Green (Naturalmente Verde) campaign was financed by Business Group M. The company is planning to sponsor two of the 40 hectares of Costa Rica Land that was chosen eight years ago to be used for the protection of the area’s water tables.

Such an activity is splendid in a country like Costa Rica where conservation plays such a big role in maintaining its ecological value and where development has begun to show some adverse effects. It is not an isolated case either. Tree planting is all over the news ever since the country announced its goal to plant 7 million trees in 2008, thus one-upping its achievement of planting 5 million trees last year. Everyone seems to be getting in on the fun, from elementary schools to surfers to large companies like Group M.

The word is spreading internationally as well. A program set in Ethiopia last year showed how some African women set a campaign and gathered hundreds of people so that they could all plant 11 trees each; research showed that a human being, throughout his lifetime, uses the equivalent amount of oxygen that is produced by approximately 11 trees. This is talking about the life of an African person. What we, in the modern world, consume with our cars and frequent flights, is another story!

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