We are all aware of the importance of trees, of a plant mass that helps our planet continue to evolve.Even those that we live stuck to the screen of our smartphone, surrounded by beings and virtual conversations, we do not forget to keep it in mind.Now, these two universes, in principle so far apart, unite in favor of a good action.This is Ecosia.
Ecosia: trees and searches
Ecosia is a web search engine that wants to be something else .Its founder is Christian Kroll, who had the idea of this project in 2009.Its purpose is clear: allocate the 80 % of the revenue generated by reforestation projects worldwide .From the project website they try to explain its operation in a simple way. Related
To join the project, the first thing we will have to do is install a free extension for our browser that will allow us to use Ecosia as a search engine .Then, we use it in the usual way in which we use this type of sites.Each one of the searches are accompanied by Ads, the associated advertisements that generate income for the platform.Well, these are the revenues that are destined to reforestation. Each user has a personal marker that will inform him of the number of trees that have been planted thanks to your searches .
Currently, there are more than 19 million trees planted (on a marker that does not stop).The ultimate goal is to reach 1,000 million trees by 2020 .The average number of searches that are needed to plant a tree are 45.And as the actions on the Internet generate some distrust in many users, who do not really know if these good deeds are effectively carried out later, as promised, transparency is another of the flags that Ecosia does not hesitate to launch.So publish monthly financial reports and receipts of plantation dearboles .
The projects
Ecosia is presented as a company as a social vocation that advocates values such as sustainability, impact, integrity...and with a B-Corporation certificate.One of the key figures in its development is Pieter Van Midwoud, the tree planting officer .He is in charge of looking for these new projects in hot spots of the planet, whose biodiversity may be being endangered.That is, in places where deforestation attacks autochthonous vegetation that It is not found in other areas of the planet.But also, not only an environmental value is sought, but also social .The inhabitants of the place have to comply with the project to be beneficial for them in the long term.term.
This point is key because, over time, the locals could choose to cut down those trees again, so the objective of Ecosia would be unfulfilled.And that is one of the major causes of deforestation is the the need of the local population that lacks subsistence resources .There are few cases of small landowners who sold their land to large companies or those who decided to cut down trees to obtain a combustion material.
In this sense, the plants that are used are typical of the place and grow with a natural germination process.The purpose is that the whole environment is benefited.Yes, also the fauna of the area , which has been able to lose its habitat, gets a profit.
Currently, there are four projects that are carried out:
- Madagascar .It is estimated that has lost 90% of its forests .Ecosia works with Eden Reforestation Projects and its work involves hiring farmers to replant trees.The species chosen are mangroves that grow in salt water and favor the reproduction of fish.
- Nicaragua .The area of Leon, in the northwest of the country, is formed by numerous volcanic landscapes that are suffering from soil erosion.The DIA Foundation is the platform who works in association with Ecosia to reforest the area and, thus, recover water sources and give local farmers a sustainable economy.
- Indonesia . palm oil is the protagonist of many news lately.Deforestation of forested areas to cultivate this plant is worrying in places like Indonesia.Together with the Foundation Masarang, Ecosia is responsible for planting productive trees, such as the sugar palm, that try to safeguard the biosphere.
- Tanzania .The Usambara Range represents one of the most interesting points on the planet, since a third of its animal life is not found anywhere else in the world Together with Friends of the Usambara Project, Ecosia tries to take care of the ecosystem through a balance between agroforestry, ecotourism and forest recovery.
The problem of deforestation
A little while ago, from Nobbot we echoed a manifesto signed by more than 15,000 scientists from all over the world who talked about the dangers the planet faces.Its name was' Warning of the world's scientists to the humanity: a second warning 'and some of the most serious facts for the survival of species (including the human one) were listed.And one of the most worrisome problems, it is not difficult to imagine, was the deforestation.
Some figures can make us aware of the problem.According to World Bank data, the planet has lost since 1990, 1.3 million square kilometers of forests.It is estimated that South America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa have lost one in ten kilometers of the forests they owned.
The numbers represent an authentic tragedy for countries like Togo , which would have lost 73% of its forest mass since 1990; Nigeria, with 70%; Uganda, with 56%; Honduras, 44% or Nicaragua, with 31% of its forests disappeared.
Other initiatives
Humanity lives on the Internet.The network boils with initiatives of all kinds.Ecosia is not the first (nor will it be the last) of the proposals for technology to help save the planet .
Thus, we have Data for Action Climate, an initiative by the United Nations that wants to use Big Data to combat climate change .One of its objectives is to collect data on how different communities are they influence and influence the environment.These data (some 50 million are expected) will serve to promote proposals such as the one already carried out by the University of Berkeley and the Institute of Ecology and Climate Change of Mexico, which uses Big Data for initiatives of electromobility in Mexico City.
For its part, in Brazil, the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon allows the Armed Forces to monitor the activities of the area and fight against criminal actions as illegal logging dearboles.
Without a doubt, important actions that try to solve a problem that affects us all.
Image | Pixabay
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