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A human right to witness world forests - Food & Trees for Africa
We live in an era where it is generally accepted that future generations may never lay eyes on many of the species we have taken for granted in our own lifetime. This is why Food & Trees for Africa's founder, Jeunesse Park, gathered together a group of concerned individuals in 1990 with the realisation that the real environmental crisis in this country centred on people, uplifting quality of life and addressing climate change.
Twenty-two years later, Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) sees the effects of climate change impacting on more people than ever across the globe. The importance of education and awareness about environmental issues could not be more needed and this underpins all of FTFA's work. This green work now includes the distribution of over 4.1 million trees, the facilitation of thousands of organic food gardens for the poorest, the world first verified bamboo carbon offset programme, organic farm support and training, and the initiation of the first carbon calculator and mobi site calculator in South Africa.
People know more, understand less
One way for society to get involved and learn about the environment is through the environmental days that occur annually. In South Africa, World Forestry Day and Human Right's Day fall on the same day, 21 March. "While this might not seem significant, at FTFA, we don't think this is just coincidence because we believe that forests and ensuring that future generations are able to witness our world's forests, enjoy environmental justice and live in a healthy environment are a basic human right," says Park.
"In a world where people know more yet understand less about natural resource extraction and what we are doing to ourselves by destroying the lungs of the planet, it is unfortunate World Forestry Day does not happen everyday," says Lucky Xaba, FTFA ecopreneur. "And, considering the numerous benefits of trees, as well as the critical role forests play in global ecosystems, it seems fitting that in South Africa, Human Rights Day falls on the same day."
Ironically, as deforestation continues at an alarming rate, FTFA hopes that society will learn from the mistakes of the past and that future generations will get to see what our great forests look like in real life and not just as pictures in a book. The UN's data shows that half the world's forests were destroyed in the last century. We can only hope that humanity will rise to the occasion and protect our forests. And this shouldn't just be a wish, it should be a right.
