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Our Blue Earth -
Our Blue Earth
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Written by ]Suzanne Baazet, Vice President High Atlas Foundation.org
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Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:33 |
On June 18th, the Earth Day Network announced a $25,000 contribution to the High Atlas Foundation’s One Million Tree Campaign during a reception in Bethesda, Maryland, hosted by His Excellency Aziz Mekouar, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States.
The Moroccan Ambassador to the United States hosted the reception in his home to honor the contributions of the High Atlas Foundation to rural development in Morocco. Yossef Ben-Meir, president of the High Atlas Foundation, said, “the High Atlas Foundation aims to raise $200,000 to plant 200,000 fruit saplings in rural areas in 2011. Earth Day’s contribution represents a major milestone in meeting that goal.
The Foundation’s goal for 2011 is part of the One Million Tree Campaign launched by the Foundation in 2006. Every dollar contributed will buy a sapling, according to Ben-Meir. The campaign was conceived to develop income for rural Moroccan communities in many regions of Morocco, particularly remote mountainous areas where traditional crops (barley and corn) were not producing enough food to feed the communities. In addition to providing higher value cash crops for communities, the fruit trees (varieties that do not require pesticides) help to prevent erosion and desertification, and offset carbon emissions.
Since 2003, the High Atlas Foundation has planted 200,000 fruit saplings and trees, benefiting 25,000 people in six provinces of Morocco.
“Earth Day Network is honored to make this important contribution to the High Atlas Foundation One Million Trees Campaign. The Foundation’s campaign is reaching out to communities in Morocco that will truly benefit from these trees for food, income, and environmental needs,” said Kathleen Rogers, Earth Day Network President. “We are counting the Million Trees Campaign as a contribution to our Billion Acts of Green™ initiative, which counts green acts from individuals, organizations, businesses and governments to quantify sustainability efforts.”
Earth Day Network was founded on the premise that all people have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. The organization works to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide through education, public policy, and activism campaigns. More than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world. The Network recognizes Morocco’s “exemplary” leadership, particularly in the area of renewable energy, and selected Morocco’s capital Rabat as the site of one of the major celebrations (April 17-25, 2010) marking Earth Day's 40th anniversary.
The High Atlas Foundation is a U.S. and Moroccan nonprofit organization that works to establish projects in rural communities of Morocco that local people design and manage, and that are in partnership with government and nongovernment agencies. It was founded by former Peace Corps Morocco Volunteers as a way to use their experience gained for the continued benefit of the Moroccan people. The High Atlas Foundation supports projects in fruit tree agriculture, clean drinking water, irrigation, women’s cooperatives, youth development, and participatory training at its Center in with Hassan II University in Mohammedia. The Foundation often works together with communities that neighbor national parks and partners with the High Commission of Waters and Forests. Other major supporters of its tree project are Trees for Life International, G4S Maroc, the OCP Group, the U.S. Embassy in Rabat, GlobalGiving, the Penney Family Fund Foundation, and the Kate-Jeans Gail Tree Nursery Memorial.
The next special fundraising event of the High Atlas Foundation is a Moroccan film festival to be held in New York City at TriBeca Cinemas on October 29-30, 2010. Organizing for the festival is well underway and the first sponsor has been secured – the Moroccan American Center. More information about festival activities can be found at www.highatlasfoundation.org by emailing [23]
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For more information and to view photos of the Foundation’s One Million Tree Campaign please visit www.highatlasfoundation.org. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:35 |
