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Key
Challenge For The 21st Century
Planting 140 billion trees in 10 years
An
essential step to counter the climate change
threatening Earth and its inhabitants Cuba stands
out internationally for reforestation efforts
BY
ALBERTO D. PÉREZ —Special for Granma International —
QUALIFYING climate change as
the main threat to planet Earth in the 21st century,
a United Nations meeting in Nairobi, Kenya called
for the immediately planting of one billion trees in
what would be an essential step in confronting a
global disaster.
The United Nations Climate
Change Conference, held in the second week of
November in this African capital, affirms that all
can participate in this practical step, which would
contribute to reducing the negative impact of global
warming on the Earth’s atmosphere.
To neutralize the
destruction caused by human beings on forests and
other wooded areas of the planet, it is estimated
that 1.3 million square kilometers must be
reforested – equivalent to the size of Peru – and
covered with 140 billion trees over a period of 10
consecutive years; that is, 140 billion trees
annually must be planted.
Trees are powerful natural
filters that capture carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere, the element responsible for the global
warming underway, bringing the planet closer to an
environmental catastrophe.
Global warming is directly
threatening agriculture and food production, as well
as fish reproduction in the sea. For that reason,
warned an FAO representative at the conference,
climate change could reduce the planet’s ability to
feed its population, and famines could break out in
diverse regions.
Africa, despite being the
least responsible for environmental pollution and
global warming, is the continent that could suffer
the most as a result of the negative effects of
these phenomena.
In addition, the increase in
environmental temperatures is causing an increase in
the number and ferocity of tropical hurricanes and
the melting of the polar icecaps.
The latter process is
raising the level of oceans and could pose a real
threat of extinction for small island nations, as
well as the modification of the coastal morphology
of many countries in the world. Seaside cities are
threatened with the flooding of their low-lying
areas.
Achim Steiner, executive
director of the United Nations Environment Program,
said that this campaign for reforestation and
environmental rehabilitation – vital to the survival
of humanity itself – must come from governments and
be assumed by all people in every sector of society.
Steiner emphasized that the
global challenge is to thwart the progress of
climate change and to restore the ability of the
natural environment to control the substances and
processes that are threatening the planet.
Other measures suggested are
conservation in the consumption of electricity and
fossil fuels, and increased use of alternative
renewable energy, such as wind, solar, hydraulic,
those using tides and biogas, the latter as part of
a range of biofuels.
Cuba is one of the few
countries in the world that has been increasing, on
a sustained basis, its surface area dedicated to
forests, via an effort led by the Ministry of
Agriculture with the support of mass organizations,
including the Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women and youth
organizations.
According to the most recent
data, 24.3% of Cuba’s surface area is planted with
trees. This task continues throughout the nation,
and makes the island one of the leading countries in
the fight against climate change and for a cleaner
environment.
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