Johnny Appleseed - Other Notable Tree Planting Figures

Other Notable Tree Planting Figures

Allen Nease, an American pioneer of reforestation and conservation efforts in Florida in the mid-20th century, planted over 55 million pine trees and was nicknamed “Johnny Pine nut.” Another tireless promoter of tree-planting is Marthinus Daneel, Ph.D., Professor of African studies at Boston University and founder of ZIRRCON (Zimbabwean Institute of Religious Research and Ecological Conservation). Daneel has worked with churches for years planting millions of trees in Zimbabwe. Concerned about global warming, conservationist Bhausaheb Thorat has coordinated the yearly planting of 45 million seedlings since 2006, starting the Dandakaranya Abhiyaan at Sangamner, Maharashtra, India.

Abdul Karim in India created a forest out of nothing over a period of 19 years in the Kasargod district of Kerala State. Another man, Jadav "Molai" Payeng, planted a forest sprawling 1,360 acres, calling it the Molai Woods, in Assam, India. An organization called Trees for the Future has assisted more than 170,000 families, in 6,800 villages of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, to plant over 35 million trees. Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, founded the Green Belt Movement which planted over 47 million trees to restore the Kenyan environment. Shanghai Roots & Shoots, a division of the Jane Goodall Institute launched The Million Tree Project in Kulun Qi, Inner Mongolia to plant one million trees to stop desertification and alleviate global warming.