The Treenitiative
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Albert Einstein
Welcome to the Treenitiative! 
The Treenitiative is, as the name suggests an iniative to plant trees – many trees. In fact it is our vision to grow entire forests. And not enough – we attempt to grow forests in the desert. That’s right, in the desert where nobody would expect anything to grow. Well, now you might have a certain image in your mind: you see the sand dunes of the Sahara desert and ask yourself how a tree – let alone an entire forest – could grow in such an inhospitable place. Where is the soil? Where does the water come from? And who is mad enough to go there, plant and water a tree and patiently wait for it to grow? We would like to correct this image a little. But just a little: While it is true that the Sahara is the largest and most impressive desert and that once, a long time ago, it might have been a lush forest and someday it might well be one of the most impressive forests (Imagine the Sahara Forest!) on earth again, it is not exactly our aspiration to start there.
There are deserts all over the place: some are deserted wastelands with very little vegetation and hardly any topsoil on the rocky underground. It is not due to a lack of rain, that these lands have become barren. In fact heavy rains have played a significant part in the degradation of these lands. The human need for wood as primary energy source and for construction materials has depleted the forests and left only sparse vegetation which was not sufficient to keep the soil from being washed away by the downpours. These lands have over time turned into deserts where nothing grows anymore. And worse – where nothing grows rain will cease to fall. Where there is no soil and no vegetation to store water and to cool the atmosphere the cycle of evaporation and condensation gets disturbed. Water runs off and evaporates yet fails to condense, hence it will not return and rains simply stop. How could it be different?
It is the human err to cut down trees and not to reforest that has brought about many repercussions and changes in global climatic conditions. Climate change is very real and observable. Climate change is not the same as global warming due to carbon dioxide emissions. While global warming has remained a theory, climate change has been taking place in vast regions on this planet and has made people suffer miserably from drought and famine.
We cannot fail by planting trees and reforest the planet! Of course, as a result of our actions we will fix carbon dioxide along the way – although this is not our primary motivation. Our motivation is based on our vision of a greener planet, where water scarcity and food scarcity are unknown, where humans enjoy being at home, where technology and nature meet, where peace prevails. 
We invite you to take part in this vision. As much as every tree counts, your participation counts! Join our global community by upholding this vision, by spreading the word and by honouring the planet as the common ground of our very existence.
The Treenitiative is a project initiated by eforest.org (Earth Reforesting System) and by invitra.org (Indian Village in Transition), two charitable NGO/NPO’s that have worked in India for many years. Both organisations contribute their specific knowledge and established relations to the cause of reforesting the drylands in India.
To learn more about the Treenitiative, please follow these links:
Treenitiative.org (conceptual presentation of the cause)
Treenitiative.net (the global Treenitiative network – presently being built) f
