{"id":19643,"date":"2021-02-05T17:07:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T17:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.highatlasfoundation.org\/?p=19643"},"modified":"2021-03-01T14:27:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T14:27:34","slug":"haf-celebrates-tree-planting-day-2021-with-the-people-of-morocco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/haf-celebrates-tree-planting-day-2021-with-the-people-of-morocco\/","title":{"rendered":"HAF Celebrates Tree Planting Day 2021 with the People of Morocco"},"content":{"rendered":"
La HAF C\u00e9l\u00e8bre La Journ\u00e9e De Plantation D\u2019arbres 2021 Avec Le Peuple Marocain<\/a>, World News, <\/strong>By Sanae Benaadim.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0<\/strong>Arabic: World News<\/a>, 11 February 2021.<\/p>\n Sanae Benaadim<\/em> <\/p>\n Caption: The High Atlas Foundation, led by President Yossef Ben-Mier, planting the first tree with a farmer in the Herbil commune to inaugurate Tree Planting Day 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?'”<\/em><\/p>\n -Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n Martin Luther King Day, a holiday in the USA, is celebrated annually on the third Monday of January. On this day each year, America remembers this charasmatic leader, fighter for justice, protestor against racial discrimination, and advocate for the civil rights. HAF\u2018s foundation of volunteerism takes inspiration from this day, and celebrates his memory by devoting this day to tree planting in communities across Morocco, paying honor in particular to those communities who have engaged with HAF since 2000. Volunteerism is an essential core to HAF\u2019s mission, for it teaches the individual the culture of sharing and solidarity.<\/p>\n On January,18th, at 10 am, HAF President Dr.Yossef Ben-Meir, Agricultural Technician Abdejlil Ait Ali, Project Assistants Lahcen Ait Ouatouch and Mustapha Id Said, and I headed toward the village of Lmrades in the Herbil Commune of the Marrakech province. Our mission was to meet with local farmers in order to plant trees.<\/p>\n Thanks to HAF\u2019s coordination with the Al Jail Saeid Association, farmers are able to plant 27,000 trees in Tamnsourt\u2019s lands this tree-planting season. The families welcomed and hosted the members of the HAF team with great joy.<\/p>\n To begin our Tree-Planting Day celebration, HAF launched various Facebook lives throughout the day to enjoy this event with people all over the world, allowing them to also experience the moment and be part of this special day. HAF believes that by celebrating this special day planting trees, we can more easily reach a sustainable culture and community. Local farmers and associations will have a stable income from the fruit yielded from these trees, the youth will be aware of the importance of tree planting, and the physical location will become a healthy green space to live in.<\/p>\n Tree-Planting Day was an opportunity for the local farmers to learn the correct way<\/a> of planting trees by following the steps provided by Abdejllil, a member of the HAF. In order to plant a tree correctly, Abdeljalil suggests the following steps:<\/p>\n Maintain an equal distance between each of the trees to allow them space to mature (about 7 meters between each olive tree, for example).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Caption: HAF team members planted over 8,000 trees with 17 communities in 11 provinces across Morocco this tree planting season.<\/em><\/p>\n Tree planting season in Morocco starts each year in the middle of December, when farmers prepared their fertile lands for planting, and lasts through the end of March<\/p>\n This planting season, HAF is in the process of transplanting 1 million trees to farming communities and schools around Morocco and planting 1.6 million seeds in our 12 nurseries to prepare for the year ahead. Each nursery includes more than 220.000 seeds.<\/p>\n We currently grow 8 types of trees: pomegranate, fig, almond, walnut, argan, cherry, carob,and lemon. Along with the trees, the nurseries grow medicinal and Also,there are aromatic grown plants like capers, cumin, fennel, geranium, lavender, marjoram, oregano, peppermint, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme, and verbena.<\/p>\n Thanks to our generous partners at Ecosia, HAF is able to sell these trees to farmers for a fraction of the price they would normally find at market. Farmers are asked to pay a symbolic price of 2DH (about $0.20). This is to encourage and help the farmers who have limited incomes.<\/p>\n HAF also offers 20 free trees to schools to provide students with a clean environment as well as raise their awareness about the danger of pollution and climate change.<\/p>\n On Tree Planting Day, HAF\u2019s staff went to 11 provinces to meet people from different sectors like farmers, schools, cooperatives, associations, etc. They facilitated environmental and planting workshops within each community. To include the rest of the world in the celebrations, they made Facebook<\/a> lives and shared videos and photos throughout the day. (Check out HAF\u2019s Instagram<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> to see more updates.).<\/p>\n Planting season is only three short months. When the season comes to an end in March, HAF will conduct a follow-up with the Ecosia team to monitor our effectiveness and see how widespread our impact has been. This follow-up will also be done to ensure the development of the seedlings and ensure that they are growing in good conditions so as to achieve sustainability. The table below shows statistics and results of how many trees were planted on January 18 and how many communities benefited from this event.<\/p>\n January 18th, 2021: Tree Planting Day Results<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nHAF\u2019s Office Manager & Volunteer Coordinator<\/em><\/p>\nPlanting trees in Morocco<\/h2>\n
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Preparing for tree planting season<\/h2>\n