By Yemi Olakitan
It’s not simple to turn a desert into a forest. The International Olympic Committee, however, has set out to achieve just that.
The sporting organization has partnered with the nonprofit organisation Tree Aid to fund the Olympic Forest, a project that will see 590,000 trees planted in Mali and Senegal over the course of the next four years. 70,000 seeds have already been planted, which “delights” IOC President Thomas Bach.
The Olympic Forest, according to him, “helps us to capture more carbon from the atmosphere than we emit and is a fundamental driver of the IOC’s objective to move from now to a climate-positive organisation in 2024.” We hope to set an example for the entire Olympic Movement with this. The forest is a component of the “Great Green Wall,” an African-led initiative to plant vegetation on degraded land in 22 Sahel-region countries. The wall, a community-led, natural solution to safeguard ecosystems and increase arable land, was introduced in 2008.
According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, this “living symbol of hope” will span 8,000 kilometres across Africa when it is finished, hopefully by 2030. (UNCCD).
They claim that it is a tangible illustration of how man and nature may cooperate to leave behind a special legacy and a brand-new global wonder for future generations.
By safeguarding food sources and promoting livable conditions, trees benefit the neighbourhood communities. By preventing desertification and enhancing soil health, they create fertile terrain for farming. According to UNCCD, it will also generate 10 million jobs by 2030.
Already, the Olympic Forest has benefited the inhabitants.
According to Rouguiatou Diallo, the village secretary, the area surrounding Sinthiou Fissa, a small town in Mali, was dusty five years ago. However, it is gradually turning greener.
Since we last saw many trees, it had been five years. There was a lot of dust as a result and no rain,” she claims.
“The Olympic Forest project benefits the neighborhood’s residents, especially the women and children. For instance, several different fruit tree types have been planted in our village, such as lemon, mango, and mahogany trees, which substantially aids in our fight against undernourishment and malnutrition. 20 kilos of carbon dioxide can be removed from the atmosphere each year by just one tree.
Forests reduce global warming by storing carbon.
