Trees, Not Arms

Nobel peace laureate and Brighter Green colleague Wangari Maathai is a consistent out-of-the box thinker (and doer). She had another terrific idea last week at an event focused on the UN Environment Programme’s Billion Tree Campaign, of which she’s a patron: have each solider in each of the world’s many armies, as well as peacekeeping forces, plant a tree. The Campaign is seeking to reach its latest goal, seven billion new trees throughout the world by the end of 2009. Here’s how she explained it:

Imagine all soldiers marching for the planet. While the armies of the world are waiting to fight an enemy that comes with a gun, we have another enemy, an unseen enemy, an enemy that is destroying our environment. The enemy that takes away our topsoil, takes away our waters, destroys our forests, destroys the air we breathe, clears the forest. This is the unseen enemy and it cannot be fought with a gun; this enemy can be fought with a tree.

Inimitably and very well said. Thanks, Wangari. Planting to protect the planet indeed.