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Its Time to Plant the Ghaf Trees!

Feb 18, 2009

If you would like to handover your Ghaf Saplings to a nursery in Dubai, this is the time.

The Mission Green Earth: Stand Up and Take Action challenge saw more than 100,000 people standing up between October 17, 18 & 19, 2008 (read more). As part of the campaign, thousands of schools, offices and individuals 'took action' by collecting Ghaf seed packets to plant in their offices and homes.
 
These seeds would now have grown into saplings and for those looking to ensure they grow into Ghaf Trees, now is your chance. Dubai Municipality is holding a plantation week from the 1st to 5th of March, 2009 as part of their Million Trees Campaign. It has invited Mission Green Earth to be the first to handover their Ghaf saplings.

If you are in Dubai, you can you hand over your trees as per the following schedule:

Saturday, February 28th – individuals and families
Sunday, March 1st – schools
Venue: Al Safa Park, Gate 3
Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Don’t Forget to bring a copy of your Tree Plantation reporting form with you (download) and deposit it along with your saplings.

Volunteers from Mission Green Earth and from Dubai Municipality will be at hand to collect your saplings, register the name of organization/school/ family and record the numbers, and take them to nurseries where they will be looked after till they are planted all over Dubai!

Note: For those who cannot make it on either day, you can hand over the trees to the Dubai Municipality Nursery in Garhoud from March 2nd to March 12th.
Location: Garhoud (View Map)
Contact: Sallam at 050-3412390
Time: 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sunday to Thursday

For any questions, contact MGESUTA volunteers: 050-5512481/ 050-7844049/ 050-4520969

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Background: On October 17, 18 and 19 2008 over 140,000 people in the UAE and over 117 million people (2% of the world population) around the world Stood Up to Take Action as a part of the international United Nations Campaign to remind their leaders of their promises for a better world for tomorrow. (UN Development Goals for 2015)

In the UAE, the 2008 Mission Green Earth: Stand Up & Take Action campaign focused on addressing the issue of sustainable environments – goal number 7 – and encourages action by commitment to a sustainable lifestyle by intelligent management of water, energy and waste in personal, official and public lives.

In the UAE, it was especially important that the campaign be carried out in a realistic and efficient manner, especially taking into consideration the region’s particular environmental and climatic conditions and constraints. Which is why the 'Take Action' element of the campaign distributed seeds of The Ghaf Tree (Prosopis cineraria). Ghaf is one of the best examples of a tree suited to the deserts of UAE. Not only is it attractive with its willowy appearance and flowers (which bloom from May to March), it provides shade and is a hardy tree that survives with very little water in a dry and arid climate. And, even better, it is easy to sow and upkeep (Plant Right).

Mission Green Earth Stand up and Take Action 2008 has been held under the Royal Patronage of UN Messenger of Peace HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, Wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai; with the support of UNDP, UNEP and the International Humanitarian City and organized by Art of Living and the International Association for Human Values with the support of Barclays Bank PLC.

Learn more about the campaign on our website http://www.missiongreenearth.ae.