Tree Planting Ceremony in Karura Forest

As part of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) over 5,000 trees are going to be planted in the Karura Forest in Kenya to fight climate change, promote carbon sequestration and help clean up the Karura River.

This planting is part of the Trees4Love campaign in Kenya where loving, hugging and planting trees is highly encouraged. The official ceremony will be taking place on February 14, 2009 (Valentine’s Day). The ceremony is open for anyone to attend and is taking place in the Karura Forest from 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm.

This experience is part of the larger Plant For The Planet: Billion Trees Campaign. Several thousand people are expected to join the celebration and plant trees in memory of loved ones and out of respect and love for the planet.

The Billion Trees Campaign has thus far planted 2.6 billion trees out of their goal of 7 billion by 2009 (one tree for every inhabitant on the planet). Ethiopia is leading the way having planted the most trees of any country for this campaign - over 700 million trees total.

A Greek proverb goes: A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.