Combating Desertification on International Volunteer Day

Thanks to a fast grow­ing pop­u­la­tion, aggres­sive farm­ing prac­tices, and defor­esta­tion, over 70% of Ethiopia’s land is sub­ject to deser­ti­fi­ca­tion, the dete­ri­o­ra­tion of land due to loss of mois­ture and veg­e­ta­tion.  Refor­esta­tion is one way to com­bat this process.  On Inter­na­tional Vol­un­teer Day, Decem­ber 5th, vol­un­teers in Debre Sina planted trees to com­mem­o­rate the suc­cess of a local United Nations funded project to com­bat deser­ti­fi­ca­tion.  ‘Involve­ment of Ethiopian Youth in Com­bat­ing Deser­ti­fi­ca­tion’ has orga­nized over 200 youth to plant trees on 438 hectares of land since 2006.