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7bn trees planted by 2009

15 May 2008

A successful campaign to plant trees around the globe has announced it is raising its target from one billion trees to seven billion trees by late 2009, the United Nations has said.

In just 18 months, the campaign has seen two billion trees planted, double its original target.

The campaign was launched by the world body's environment programme UN Environment Programme (Unep) and the World Agroforestry Centre (Icraf) in 2006 as a response to the threat of global warming.

It is run under the patronage of Nobel Peace prize laureate Wangari Maathai and Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Unep executive director Achim Steiner said: "Having exceeded every target that has been set for the campaign, we are now calling on individuals, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments to evolve this initiative on to a new and even higher level by the crucial climate change conference in Copenhagen in late 2009."

Experts argue trees are the most cost-effective ways of regulating the climate since they absorb carbon dioxide.

It is argued that deforestation accounts for over a fifth of the CO2 humans generate, rivalling emissions from other sources.

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