Earth Day Network: This Mother's Day, help the world's poorest women by planting trees

Dear Friend,

Mothers across the world will do anything to protect and sustain their children. For some of the world’s poorest women, that means walking miles every day to gather fuel wood. As Nobel Peace Prize winner, environmental and human rights activist Kenya’s Wangari Maathai famously said, they’ll “cut the last tree to cook the last meal.” She added,  “The more you degrade the environment, the more you dig deeper into poverty.”

Earth Day Network's Canopy Project has been working for years to combat deforestation and help provide sustenance to some of the world's poorest people.

Earth Day Network works with local partners to integrate tree planting with farming and community training. Fruit trees and fast-growing plants provide food and biofuel using sustainable agroforestry practices.

Our work helps combat centuries of environmental degradation and natural disasters and deforestation. And we need your support.

In Senegal, for example, over 675,000 hectares of pristine primary forest have been lost, the equivalent of cutting down a forest he size of Delaware.  Each year more and more trees are cut to fuel the ever-growing timber and biofuel sectors. As a result, Senegal’s soil is destabilized and its thousands of species of mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles and plants are dying, too.

By planting specific beneficial trees, The Canopy Project helps the mothers of Senegal and other African countries feed and cook for their families, while also providing habitats for threatened animals, and providing sustainable electricity to run homes, produce goods, and improve family livelihoods.

But we need your help now, as we confirm plans for all our 2017 tree planting! The tree planting season in Senegal must coincide with the short rainy season of July through September. Each dollar donated helps preserve biodiversity and adds trees in the most needy villages and farms of Senegal.

Time is short and there is much work to be done. For the mothers in your life, and their daughters and sons, please help us reach our goal today!

-- The Earth Day Network Team