TRANSFORM has given its support to TREE AID after the charity launched its 'She Grows' appeal to help reverse the effects of climate change and deforestation in the drylands of Africa.
TREE AID is urging people to donate as much as they can to the three-month appeal before 30th June 2019, and the UK government will double all donations.
The appeal aims to help one thousand women living below the poverty line in Mali set up small businesses that process and sell shea butter and honey, providing the tools and training they need to save and replant their local forest.
The women are expected to feed their families, but their land is some of the driest in the world. Trees are a lifeline improving the soil and providing fruit and nuts for food and income.
The charity, set up by foresters in 1987, has planted more than 16 million trees and supported more than 1.2 million people.
It is increasingly gaining recognition for its long-term solution to help alleviate poverty and halt deforestation in the poorest and most arid parts of Africa.
The project comes at an important time, with the UN naming 2019 as a “critical year“ for climate action and with scientists around the world calling for reforestation to slow down climate change.
Donations from the UK public will mean TREE AID can help even more communities across the drylands of Africa to transform their environment and their lives.
Joanna Lumley, TREE AID's patron and supporter of the She Grows appeal, explained: “I have been supporting TREE AID for more than 25 years because it provides such an effective, practical solution to the urgent issues of poverty in Africa and the environmental decline that so often causes it.
“Trees are being wiped from the landscape making it harder for people, especially women, to feed their families and earn an income. I urge local people to please give what they can to the She Grows appeal, knowing their gift will be doubled by our government. If ever there was a time to support a local organisation working on global issues, it is now.“
To donate and find out more, visit the TREE AID website.
