TakingITGlobal

Calls To Action • Create policies geared towards saving national forests and natural habitats • Fund local afforestation projects • Develop economical guidelines for financial support for certain communities • Develop educational tools and resources that will provide students with a solid understanding of deforestation Youth Commitments • Introduce vegetarian and vegan option meal days • Annual fundraising efforts within schools for reforestation • Carbon neutral schools We, the youth of the world, urge that importance be placed in planting new forests, rehabilitating degraded ones, and enriching existing ones. "Your whole sense of spirituality, your whole sense of who you are is connected to the forests," Saskia, student, Australia. Planting more trees is not enough. In order to maintain the ecosystem, it is necessary that the planted trees are of a native species to that area. Therefore, we urge government leaders to create a policy in which logging companies must plant a native tree for each one they cut down and ensure its growth. For industries that participate, planting additional trees could be awarded with an eco-friendly global award or recognition from a global organization. In order for companies to consider the forests when making decisions, they must understand the impact that their actions have. Protecting the native trees that we currently have is vitally important. We urge governments through policy, industry, through their corporate social responsibilities (CSRs), and NGOs through mandates, to support scientists by committing a portion of their gross income to the funding of afforestation research and action projects. Page 5

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