On Friday, our own Global Associate, Dr. Susana Anayatin, took part in a tree-planting effort which broke the world record for trees planted in a single hour. The full story of the TreeVolution: Greening MindaNow can be found here. Partial and unofficial tally of entries sent from around the six regions in Mindanao already recorded 2,003,251 trees planted as of 2:31 p.m., with more than half of the actual number still to be reported after undergoing validations by community and provincial offices of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Partial and unofficial tally of entries sent from around the six regions in Mindanao already recorded 2,003,251 trees planted as of 2:31 p.m., with more than half of the actual number still to be reported after undergoing validations by community and provincial offices of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)."

The record was made by 113,470 volunteers – from students and members of non-governmental organizations, to government personnel and police and military personnel.

Pictured below is Susana, who in addition to doing the 'dirty work' of physically planting trees, was named as a coordinator and steward during the volunteer effort for the Upper Awang, DOS Maguindanao. Susana has a long record of being an advocate for Environmental Protection of vulnerable regions like that of the Southern Philippines and her project work continues to include a large component on education and informational lectures to groups like the military and the police who are critical in the partnerships being built on the ground to do such work. 

As Susana reported for this story:More than the record breaking, tree planting is a passion for me as part of environmental protection and mitigation of global climate change, where the Philippines is one of the most affected countries in Asia.

More than the record breaking, tree planting is a passion for me as part of environmental protection and mitigation of global climate change, where the Philippines is one of the most affected countries in Asia."

- Dr. Susana Anayatin

To learn more about our work and Susana's peacebuilding and environmental advocacy in Mindanao, please see our issues page here. Through tomorrow, we are still earmarking donations for the flood relief project that Susana is co-coordinating in Mindanao - Get involved here!