An Overview Of Our Solution
Climate change has significant linkages to individual behavioral changes. Information from all sources confirm that individual behavior changes leads to climate change. Awareness on the climate change lead to significant behavioral change. Trees help us naturally. The value of trees is known by the people living in villages & in towns. Community living in villages amidst trees does not need A/C as it has been naturally done by the trees by cooling the air, but the community living in cities amidst tall concrete buildings suffer without A/C, one of the cause of climate change, dominated by human behavior, and human-induced changes in atmosphere from emissions associated with energy use. Trees provide energy savings through shading, storm water mitigation through rain interception, air quality improvement by filtration & absorption. We could change the world.
- Population Impacted: 5,000,000
- Continent: Africa
Last name
Organization type
Context Analysis
Sri Lanka is a small island with lots of natural beauties. It could be the ideal place in the world map if not for the politicians who always look for their benefits instead of the poor communities who voted for them. By introducing open market policy all natural food items vanished while it replaced by artificial produce which flooded the market. Farmers became lazy and depended on artificial foods. Low lying lands filled up and concrete buildings have come up. Agriculture was reduced. The jungles were cleared, trees were cut down- now terrible heat, floods, earth slips and other disasters. Government does not have correct information. They are worried about them and not the future. If the government is straight forward, we will have a wonderful land like no others. Climate change and environmental degradation pose a major threat to sustainability.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Trees are nature’s assets. We will not survive without trees. We need trees for our environment, breathing, health, food, water, etc. Trees control climate change naturally. Trees reduce the carbon footprint. A mature tree consumes up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Trees prevent soil erosion by slowing down and absorbing the rain water. Also with the constantly rising temperatures and new heat records being set every coming year, trees cool the earth through evaporation. Therefore because trees are much cheaper compared to other methods of climate change mitigation, it is easy for the locals to invest in them and so far, we have registered a lot of success.
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
Approval and assistance is needed from the government to plant trees in public places. Also we need the support from Community as otherwise the planted trees would be not taken care of. We have volunteers in each major cities & divisions of all the districts in Sri Lanka. We arrange awareness programs - benefits of tree planting, waste management & recycling, educating about the Global warming and climate change. When planting places are identified, we select the suitable variety for the particular place. Our volunteers ensure with frequent visits that the trees planted grow healthy. Average atmosphere temperatures have risen as tree coverage has declined and the number of heat-absorbing roads & buildings have increased. Trees cool atmosphere and release water vapor in to the air through their leaves. Therefore planting trees have no alternative for a Better World.
Budgeting & Funding is an important part of our project. Life is more value than money & therefore we will not go for funding. Lanka Fundamental Rights Organization will not directly fund for this project and considering rising costs of living, we will prepare bi-annual budgets which would be discussed & finalized at the Board Meetings & depend on the volunteers for whom we will prepare leaflets about the existence of trees & their values. We would promote every individual to grow at least five tree plants in their home gardens or homes & to provide these plants to the Lanka Fundamental Rights Organization
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
We will have full backing from our government, members and the community.
Describe your implementation
Studied about the climate change, the reasons for the climate change and as to how we could be a partner in the control of climate change. We cannot change the planet. We cannot change the world, but there is possibility that we could make our country citizens understands the severe status of the issues and how could they get involved. So far all our programs have gone well, with most of the community understanding and agreeing with us to jointly take action.
External connections
We have island wide offices, in each district, each division and major cities of Sri Lanka, who are committed, interested and willing. The total of our membership within one year is estimated to be 6000. Each of our member, if they plant 10 plants a month, total per year would be 720,000 which would be 1440,000 in two years, but we are targeting only 1000,000 for five years. For the last two months we have already started planting 2000 trees as a trial. Our target is easy and possible as the government too has agreed to give us big cleared jungle lands to be replanted.
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
I as a Nature Lover, started this project.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Details already given above.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
As we started this project only two months ago, we have still not got the results. Approximately after three years we will have the results and benefits.
Sustainability
Volunteer Membership Fees & their Contributions
Return on investment
There is no cash investment as Plants – we get it free, Labour – we get it free from Volunteers.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
No funds required and no training required. We need only interested & willing volunteers. We have already had success stories.