Dubai: The fact that it takes 100 years to grow a tree and two minutes to cut it down is not something many people think about.
Andrew Steel, Chief Executive Officer of the Treedom Group in the UK and Founder of Plant a Tree Foundation (PATT), however, is spreading environmental awareness by joining five others on a journey to climb the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise funds for environmental causes.
The group, which includes Steel along with two eco-scientists and two Middle Eastern businesswomen, are set to start their seven-day climb on July 28.
The ‘Climb for Change’ trip, which was organised by Steel, is one of the PATT foundation’s latest events that will raise funds for a project in the making — to create and expand a sustainable environmental educational portal for schools worldwide, with the next target being the UAE. “Environmental education is very important. The older generation doesn’t understand it, the middle generation is blasé about it, which is why this project targets children who are the next generation,” Steel told Gulf News.
Aiming to start the project within schools in the UK, Steel plans to gradually expand the initiative in order to link students and teachers around the world through an international educational platform. The platform will offer valuable resources focusing on the environment and its numerous issues such as climate change and deforestation, which he hopes will be in line with different school curriculums.
While currently in the process of setting up a foundation in the UAE, Steel said the charity’s aim is to plant one million trees in the UAE by 2020. “The target isn’t as big as it sounds — if car showrooms plant five to 10 trees per car that is sold, it will take a few years to reach the target, which would then be surpassed,” explained Steel.
With many more projects in the pipeline, Steel said he is currently focusing on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with a crew who will document the climb and focus on the melting glaciers. “The snowcaps are melting and it is predicted than in six to 10 years they will be gone. The aim of the climb is to show what is happening over the years and what is continuing to happen,” said Steel.
Planning to make the climb an annual charity event, Steel said the foundation aims to encourage more people to climb and raise awareness as well as funds for environmental causes.
