Reforestation

We’re not sure if this is material for the record books, but maybe it should be. Last November in Macedonia — the little country just north of Greece and just south of Kosovo — citizens numbering in the thousands set out to plant 6 million trees in a single day. Over the last two summers, wildfires have devastated Macedonia’s forests, and the effort was part of a mass drive to reforest this Balkan country. Boris Trajanov, a Macedonian opera star, leveraged his celebrity to be the effort’s driving force. “Our goal is to make Macedonia ‘greener’ and make people more aware of the needs of this planet,” he said. Buses took volunteers to 14 sites, and over a thousand soldiers worked to plant 200,000 seedlings. Trajanov, who would like to expand the program next year, continued, “If Macedonia, a country of 2 million people, can plant 6 million trees, we can only imagine how many trees can be planted in other bigger countries.” … Like, maybe the United States? Questions can be sent to Jim Parks at jrparks@mac.com. To find out more about Jim Parks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.