The Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos, which Aucca founded in 2000, has supported Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Andes to plant at least 10 million trees and protect or restore 30,000 hectares of ancient Polylepis forests.
In a region blighted by decades of deforestation, this ever-expanding tree-planting drive is considered essential. For Aucca, it’s a question of looking after the next generation.
“The future of our children is the reason why we are planting native trees,” he told UNEP. “[We’re doing this] for pure air, for clean water, and for a green and healthy planet.”
Since winning the award, Aucca has continued to help Indigenous families to secure land titles, establish protected areas for their native forests and plant more trees. Through Acción Andina, Aucca is now aiming to help protect and restore 1 million hectares of forests across Peru and other Andean nations by 2025.
Cameroon Ecology, an organization co-founded by Ndjebet in 2001, has trained women to restore more than 600 hectares of degraded land and mangrove forests, with a goal of reviving 1,000 hectares by 2030. Ndjebet is also President of the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests. Among other things, the organization has helped women assert ownership rights over family lands, something they often lack.
If women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men, agriculture yields would skyrocket, she says.
“Women have [extensive] knowledge of the importance of lands and the ecosystems they depend on,” Ndjebet told UNEP. “They share knowledge with their children to perpetuate the sustainable methods and techniques they use.”
Reviving blighted lands in China
Credit: UNEP
Enter the Saihanba Afforestation Community, a conservation group and a 2017 Champion of the Earth in the Inspiration and Action category.
In 1962, hundreds of foresters started planting trees in the area. One of those individuals, Li Xiuzhu, recalled sub-zero temperatures and tough work.
“I was freezing (but) we brought our passion to the moor and watered the trees with our sweat,” he said.
Thanks to Xiuzhu’s endeavors and those of three generations of tree-planters that have followed, more than 76,000 hectares of forest have been planted. By 2021, trees covered 80 per cent of Saihanba, up from 11.4 percent since the tree-planting community was established.
The grassroots initiative is a shining example, observers say, of how restoration can benefit communities.
“As long as we continue to promote ecological [awareness], generation after generation, China can create more green miracles like Saihanba, and achieve harmony between humans and nature,” said Liu Haiying, director of the Saihanba Afforestation Community.
About Champions of the Earth
UNEP’s Champions of the Earth honours individuals, groups and organizations whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment. The award is the UN’s highest environmental honour. #EarthChamps
About the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The UN General Assembly has declared 2021–2030 a UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Led by the UN Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, together with the support of partners, it is designed to prevent, halt, and reverse the loss and degradation of ecosystems worldwide. It aims at reviving billions of hectares, covering terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems. A global call to action, the UN Decade draws together political support, scientific research, and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration. #GenerationRestoration