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Contact: Dr Jim Weale

Phone: +44 (0)20 8947 9685; Mobile: +44 (0)7768 002980; Email: j.c.weale@scriptoria.co.uk

Dr Weale and the team will be on-site at Glastonbury from 21 June.

BusyTrees at Glastonbury: a simple weapon to combat climate change

The BusyTrees campaign, which is fighting to combat climate change, reduce poverty and boost biodiversity, is demanding that world policymakers push agroforestry higher up the global political agenda.

The campaign launches this week at the UK’s Glastonbury music festival as part of

the United Nations’ International Year of Forests. It is urging people to sign a petition to be presented to policymakers at the next climate change summit (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa, in late November and early December this year.

“Agroforestry is a sustainable, climate-friendly technique that is all about growing more trees on farms. Policymakers need to take it more seriously,” said Paul Stapleton, Head of Communications at the World Agroforestry Centre, which is leading the campaign. “Local people benefit and it takes the pressure off the forests.”

“Many solutions to coping with climate change are complex and expensive, but agroforestry is simple, long-established and affordable. We could start making a difference right now if politicians and policymakers give agroforestry more support.”

Agroforestry combats climate change by reducing carbon dioxide in the air. It also fights poverty by providing poor farming communities with more produce to sell and to eat, and boosts biodiversity by providing more habitats for plants and animals.

The BusyTrees gang is spreading the word at this year’s Glastonbury festival. Drop by our tent in The Green Field (Q/05) and have a chat with our agroforestry experts, sign the petition and get involved with our fun, green activities.

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To find out more about the BusyTrees campaign, visit www.busytrees.com.

High-resolution images for royalty-free use by news organisations are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptoria/sets/72157626879592365/with/5852040303/.

Background

Between now and 2030, the number of people on the Earth is expected to grow by more than 100 million a year. Almost all of that growth will be in developing countries, where pressure on land and water is already intense. The challenge the world faces is how to feed its people while protecting the natural resource base on which we all depend. Agroforestry is a simple and affordable solution that will help meet that challenge, both today and in the future.

Getting more trees on farms is not just an issue relevant to farmers in the developing world. It has a direct impact on everyone living in the developed world as well. Many key products, such as coffee, chocolate, nuts and a huge variety of fruits seen on our supermarket shelves are sourced from agroforestry farms. Many western consumers have the ability to make a huge difference just through the food they buy.

The BusyTrees campaign needs support from the developed world to ensure that agroforestry is made a political priority by global policy makers. Our petition will be presented to world leaders at November’s United Nations COP17 climate summit in Durban, South Africa. All we’re asking for is signatures to show international solidarity and enable this simple solution to take flight.

How agroforestry fights poverty

Growing trees allows poor farmers to diversify and rely less on field crops like maize. Trees also shield their crops from direct sunlight and provide free, organic fertiliser in the form of decomposing leaves (which can triple crop yields). It also stabilises their soil and replenishes it with nutrients, so the land remains productive well into the future.

Growing trees on farms also gives farmers new products to sell (such as fruit), grazing for livestock (such as goats), timber for building materials and wood for fuel. All of this provides extra income, which the poor can then spend on food and school fees for their children, helping to break the cycle of poverty and allowing them to become self-sufficient.

How agroforestry fights climate change

Agroforestry can help by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – in fact, it’s estimated that investments in agroforestry over the next 50 years could remove 50 billion tonnes of additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Trees also makes it easier to keep animals and grow crops because the shade and water evaporation from their leaves help reduce daytime temperatures beneath them by 3°C.

How agroforestry fights forest and habitat loss

As the populations of developing countries grow, demand for farmland also grows and forests are cut down to make way for crops and provide timber and fuel. So not only do we lose the forests, we lose the plants and animals (or biodiversity) that live in them, and a whole host of other environmental benefits as well.

Agroforestry helps to turn this around by meeting the need for timber and fuel wood, sustaining the ecosystem and providing homes for wildlife. It also encourages the return of endangered species and attracts birds, bees and bats which help pollinate plants and spread seeds.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it will be promoting the use of trees on farms and in agriculture over the next few years. It’s one more example of how the benefits of agroforestry as a way of combating poverty, climate change and forest loss are being recognised around the world.

You can read more about this at the official International year of Forests – Agroforestry site by clicking here >>>

And, by signing our petition you can call for more world leaders to recognise the importance of using more tree on farms. To sign the petition click here >>> 

The world famous Kew Garden’s Millenium Seed Bank is the latest partner to join the campaign to raise the profile of agroforestry worldwide this year.

Kew’s an important partner in the International Year of Forest’s Trees on Farms campaign (of which BusyTrees is one part) because they’ve been working for years to promote agroforestry and the benefits of key agricultural tree species like coffee.

Coffee used to be grown very widely under the leafy canopy of native rainforest trees – a traditional agroforestry system which is a great wildlife habitat. But now our daily cup is under threat, as commercial plantations, smallholder farms, and wild species are struggling to survive the difficulties bought by climate change and pests.

One way that Kew is working to help the future of the coffee industry is by discovering and protecting wild populations of coffee that are more resistant to pests and can survive higher temperatures and lower rainfall. This will help coffee crops survive the extremes of weather that climate change is bringing – making sure coffee trees can keep on giving poor farmers valuable income, while guaranteeing your morning fix of caffeine.

The first confirmed date at which the BusyTrees will be appearing in 2011 is the world-famous Glastonbury music festival in the UK (22-26 June 2011). Festival organisers have kindly given the BusyTrees a whopping 16 square metre space to pitch their tent tell festival-goers all about the benefits of growing more trees on farms. You’ll be able to browse posters, listen to talks by experts, and see for yourself how putting more trees on farms helps to combat climate change and fight poverty.

We’re even told that Max Mango is going to be there in person, giving out leaflets, chatting to festival-goers and generally soaking up the atmosphere. We already know that U2 are headlining, but we’ll be doing our best to pull Max away from the Pyramid stage to make sure he’s available at the booth to answer your questions in person.

If you don’t already have tickets to Glastonbury, then we’re sorry to say you won’t be able to meet Max and the gang there, as tickets sold out months ago. But if you are one of the 177,000 people attending the event, watch out for Max and the crew and take the opportunity to sign the BusyTrees petition calling on the world’s governments to encourage trees in farming to combat climate change and poverty.

To find out more, contact press@busytrees.com

Sign the petition now >>>