Mexico celebrates Día del Arbol with a commitment to plant 250 million trees

To mark the Mexican Día del Arbol, or National Tree Day, the Mexican Ambassador to Kenya hosted a tree planting ceremony at the Mexican embassy and residence in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 July 2007. At the ceremony, Mexico officially launched the campaign to plant 250 million trees by the end of the year. More than 70 guests, including Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Australia, Iran, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Thailand, Czech Republic, Philippines, Mexico and the Permanent Representative to USA, as well as many journalists, attended the tree planting ceremony and planted 25 trees.

The Mexican Ambassador to Kenya, His Excellency Juan Carlos Cue Vega, the Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai all spoke at the event. H.E. Mr. Vega spoke of the importance of the Mexican Government's commitment to tree planting. In Mexico, where half of the forest area has been lost to deforestation, the government is playing an integral role in promoting reforestation. "Forests create livelihoods and reduce poverty for those working in the forestry sector. We must plant trees to ensure environmental sustainability and prolong gains of poverty reduction in Mexico," H.E. Mr. Vega said. "Moreover, tree planting is both a matter of national security and international responsibility." H.E. Mr. Vega mentioned that planting trees for the future generations will ensure that forests are plentiful, and that Mexicans can live in peace without fighting over natural resources.

Achim Steiner endorsed Mexican President Felipe Calderòn's commitment to plant a quarter of a billion trees in Mexico as a significant contribution to the Billion Tree Campaign. "Once we received the pledge from Mexico, we knew we could meet our goal. Now, one in four trees planted in the Billion Tree Campaign will be planted in Mexico.” He noted that tens of thousands of people, from capital cities to kindergartens around the world, are involved in the Billion Tree Campaign in some capacity. He said that through this campaign, the UN has not only been an inspiration, but a platform for people and governments to take action, and that Mexico is a great example of how to make the campaign a success through taking tangible action to plant trees.

Echoing H.E. Mr. Vega's comments about environmental security, Professor Maathai explained that taking care of the environment is both a prerequisite and an after-effect of peace. She spoke about the dangerous environmental health conditions that create insecurity. Professor Maathai is fighting to address the root causes of insecurity— poverty and lack of resources, rather than only fighting crime with guns and police tactics. "We can practice a culture of peace through tree planting," Maathai said. "This is especially important in Africa, where we are bordered to the north and south by deserts, making our forests particularly valuable, and where the impact of climate change is likely to be especially severe." Professor Maathai urged African governments to emulate Mexico by making a commitment to plant trees.

Professor Maathai planted the first tree of the day, with the assistance of Achim Steiner and H.E. Mr. Vega. She instructed the crowd to plant the tree upright, water the seedling, and to always recycle the plastic bag that encases the roots of tree seedlings. She also encouraged the use of thick plastic bags because thin plastic bags, which have been recently banned in Kenya, will eventually cause the emission of green house gases.

In his speech, H.E. Mr. Vega shared a Mexican proverb about tree planting, "In Spanish, we have a saying: to have a truly successful life, one must have a child, write a book, and plant a tree," he said. "Today, we are taking the first step to living a successful life." 

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