Pakistan Plants Half Million Trees in One Day, Breaks Guinness World Record

[bananas]

Pakistan Plants Half Million Trees in One Day, Breaks Guinness World Record
Written by Derek Markham
Published on July 16th, 2009


300 volunteers in Pakistan planted 541,176 mangrove trees by hand in a single day, setting the Guinness World Record for tree planting.

The volunteers, using no mechanical equipment, planted the mangroves in the Indus River Delta wetland ecosystem in the Southern Sindh Province of Pakistan, beating India in a friendly competition which seeks to preserve endangered forests and help temper the global warming effects of deforestation.

<snip>

The tree planting site, 150 kilometers southeast of Karachi, is a sanctuary of biodiversity, designated by Pakistan as a ‘Ramsar Site’, or Wetland of International Importance, in 2002. The trees were planted on the mudflats of the inter-tidal zone at an interval of just over 2 meters, in order for the young Red Mangroves to have plenty of room to spread their canopies as they grow.

WWF awarded Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi, Pakistan’s Environment Minister, the title Leaders of the Planet, which recognizes individuals making a significant personal contribution to sustainable development and conservation of the natural world.

Deforestation contributes to about 20% of all CO2 emissions, say scientists, and reducing deforestation is a key tactic in fighting rising global temperatures.

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[babylonsister]

1. Big wow! That's a lot of trees! Happily recommend for that friendly

competition! :thumbsup:

[bumbum]

2. In other news, cooking charcoal prices in Pakistan plunge.

Experts attritube the large drop in charcoal prices used for cooking fires in rural Pakistan to a large influx of young trees that suddenly hit the market from various locations and harvested by the largely poor illiterate peasants that truck them to the rural areas to be used for fuel.

[GReedDiamond]

3. Right...

...wing troll.

[bumbum]

4. You don't like the truth? These trees won't survive two years.

Pakistan needs cooking fuel and the poor people will harvest these trees as soon as nobody is around.

[babylonsister]

7. Prove it. A link would help, thanks. nt

[bumbum]

10. I am sorry if you don't understand the reality of a poverty stricken country.

These poverty stricken poeple looking to eat just enough to survive another day are going to chop these trees down, burn them down to charcoal, and sell the sacks of charcoal to people in the shanties that litter pakistan to cook their food.

I have seen the poverty there; have you?

[babylonsister]

12. No, I want a link to prove that the trees will be wasted. Either

provide one, or stop demeaning what these people are doing, with a lot more education than you, I'll warrant.

[bumbum]

13. I bet you never saw poverty, I mean REAL poverty in your life. NT

[babylonsister]

15. Link or stfu. And yes, I have. nt

[bumbum]

16. Where? When Dad didn't give you your $50 weekly allownace? NT

[babylonsister]

17. Hey, sweetums, where've you been?

I'm probably old enough to be your grandmother. :rofl:

[bumbum]

21. Grandmother? So you are hanging out with these high schoolers for why? NT

[NickB79]

18. Just look into what has been done in the past with mangroves

http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1111-fao.html

"Today mangroves are rapidly disappearing (at rates exceeding those of tropical rainforests) due to farming, harvesting for timber and charcoal, freshwater diversion, real estate development, and conversion for tourism."

Just ask yourself: why do they need to reforest these estuaries in the first place? People have already wiped out these mangroves once before. If the underlying causes of that initial deforestation haven't been addressed, it is reasonable to believe the same actions will be repeated.

Only time will tell if the local people have learned from their past mistakes.

[tabatha]

8. Don't you think, idiot, that these people may take pride in

these newly planted trees and look after them.

[tabatha]

9. Have you seen this

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Pakistan

Probably not.

[bumbum]

14. Yes, The UN spotted thousands of them in poverty stricken areas.

When they proved to be slower and less reliable than JUST COOKING WITH CHARCOAL, the people threw them away. You see, most meals are cooked in the evening WHEN THE SUN DOESN"T SHINE.

[tabatha]

19. Link?

I thought they used a lot of kerosene.

[GReedDiamond]

11. BumBum...

SPEAKS and the WORLD shudders...everything in Pakistan is Charcoal Broiled...brought to you by Carls Junior.

It's got what plants like: "Because Brawndo's got electrolytes."

[NickB79]

20. Have you checked to see how much firewood Pakistan uses annually?

http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7519E/w7519e05.htm

"Seventy-nine percent (79%) of all households used fuelwood which accounted for around 53% of total household energy use (Table 3.5). All biomass fuels contributed a total of 86%. The average annual fuelwood consumption per household was estimated at 2,324.4 kilograms (kg)."

4 out of 5 households in Pakistan burn wood. It sucks, but it appears bumbum has a valid point: Pakistan consumes a LOT of fuelwood annually, and they don't have a stellar track record of sustainable harvesting.

[GReedDiamond]

22. OK, so we will assume that they are planting all of these trees...

...for fuel.

And there is no other reason for them to do this.

[NickB79]

23. No, it would be foolish to assume these were planted for fuel

And it would also be foolish to assume that no one is going to look to these trees as a ready source of fuel once they mature despite what their government says.

[GReedDiamond]

24. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you...

...the Govt of Pakistan is not without its obvious faults, and is also not totally in control of its Citizens.

I'm just guilty of hoping for the best.

[scarletwoman]

5. Do you have a source for that? Or are you just pulling it out of your ass? (nt)

[tabatha]

6. Yep, normal rightwing crap

judgmental, holier than thou, made-up BS