International Year of Forests 2011
| This year marks the UN International Year of Forests. For more information visit the official site. IYOF promotes awareness to the importance of forests to people. Forests are home to building resources, medicinal plants, biodiversity, and also help manage our climate. In all our destinations, World Challenge is dedicated to ensuring our activities not only minimise environmental damage, but also benefit local communities and environments. Around the world, World Challenge works alongside local communities and organisations to help ensure local forest resources are used in a sustainable manner. Over the course of the year, we will continue to update this page with information on how World Challenge teams work with communities on the front line of forest conservation. |
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Article 1 (April 2011): Seeing the forest for the trees World Challenge Reforestation in East Africa Expedition Planning Manager Stephen Kaye is working closely with our trekking partners in both Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa to deliver World Challenge’s 2011 reforestation project on the slopes of two of the region’s most famous mountains, Mt Kenya and Mt Kilimanjaro. |
In 2011, every expedition member who completes a trek on either mountain will plant a tree as part of a collaborative programme with our trek providers. This will help ensure that every person is doing their bit to help plant hundreds of trees this season alone.
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This project will also fund a small team of staff to monitor and protect the saplings year-round, directly involving the local community and helping to ensure the trees grow to reach their full potential. Deforestation is a serious issue in East Africa, with forests being used for timber, charcoal, and to make way for agriculture. On the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Kenya, this deforestation leads to the degradation of the land and surrounding communities. Less tree cover means unstable temperatures, a higher risk of flooding and landslides, which in turn affect local farms, crops, and infrastructure. |
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‘World Challenge has been conducting reforestation and other environmental projects in these areas for several years. What’s important here is to show our support to the international year of forests and help raise awareness within both the international and local community of the importance of these projects and how easy they are to implement. It isn’t often that tourism gets to really give something back to the local communities and environment, and these programmes help ensure that we can continue to make a difference long into the future.’ Stephen Kaye, Expedition Planning Manager. |
Ali Stanger-Leathes, Continent manager for our Africa Programmes also shared her thoughts:
“Reforestation is one of the single most important conservation efforts that our challengers get involved with. Reforesting the slopes of these iconic mountains in East Africa is not just about physically contributing to tackling the dramatic effects of deforestation in the area, but it is about empowering young people with a sense of agency and involvement in a pressing global issue.”
Watch this space as we continue to follow the teams this summer as they embark on their treks and keep you updated on their progress.
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