EARTH SUMMIT+5 Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 New York, 23-27 June 1997 GLOBAL SUCCESS STORIES

	Plant-a-Tree Project
	Location	Global
	Responsible organization	Franciscan International.
	Description	Launched in 1990 to celebrate the UN Environmental Sabbath Day , the Plant-A-Tree become one of the Franciscan response to Agenda 21.
	Issues addressed	Deforestation and soil erosion; changing consumption patterns; reducing poverty.
	Objectives	The project issues an invitation to Franciscans and civil society to look and evaluate their lives and return to simple and frugal lifestyles.
	Results achieved	More than 68,700 trees growing in 53 Countries. In Bolivia, Franciscans used the project to rescue and preserve native forest tree species and engage in research and advocacy. Elsewhere in the Amazon, Borneo and Malaysia the project was a step to counter the destruction of the rain forests. In Mexico 30 fruit and shade trees were planted by young women in Lomalverni, each of the participants planted a tree in an community ecological event, naming the trees in different languages. The cloistered nuns in the Philippines planted over 1,100 trees in a heavily militarized mountain area which was previously almost devoid of trees. Fishermen in North Java, Indonesia started planting 1,000 trees to protect their shoreline from erosion and repeat this operation every four months. In Lemek, Kenya, one Franciscan nun started a tree nursery of 100 indigenous trees. Some of the seedlings were distributed to individuals to plant in their communities. In Managua, Nicaragua, over 300 eucalyptus and nim trees were distributed to the poor. In Ghana, the Franciscan friars planted four hundred teak trees. 7,300 new trees were planted in Indiana, USA, tended by the Oldenburg Franciscan Sisters and one hundred more in Millvale, Pennsylvania, and another three hundred in and around Monitowac, Wisconsin. Two maple trees are growing in Rome. Five thousand more new trees in Jamaica, are nurtured by the Jamaican youth and Franciscan sisters.
	Lessons learned	Trees are essential to reverse declining soil fertility, to support food production, improve agricultural productivity and quality of life for the rural poor.
	Financing	Over US$ 6,000 has been donated to this cause. Those who cannot plant trees contributed US$ 5.00 or more to the project.
	Contact	Franciscans International , 323 E 47th St, New York 10017 NY - USA Tel. 1.212-371 4076 / Fax. 1.212-371-3965 email: franintl@undp.org Web Page: http://listserv.american.edu/catholic/franciscan/fi/fi.html