Activist aims to plant 1 tree for every home in Senegal

Environmental activist Modou Fall has set a goal for himself and his team: to plant one tree for every home in Senegal.

Fall lives in Guédiawaye, a suburb of Dakar. Trees help with climate change and provide desperately needed shade in a region that regularly sees scorching temperatures, and that's why Fall found a way to not only plant more of them, but also do something with discarded tires that are tossed into canals and along the streets.

He turns the tires into planters, which are then delivered — along with trees or seeds and wire fencing, to keep animals out — to homes and schools. Arona Faye told The Christian Science Monitor that Fall taught his son how to make planters, and there is one outside of his Dakar house that's already making a difference. "Without the tree, it was hot," Faye said. "It was difficult. The whole neighborhood has trees [now]. We're thanking God."

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The trees being grown include lime, mango, moringa, and gmelina, and are for everyone; Fall told the Monitor it doesn't matter where a person lives or what they do for a living — anyone can plant a tree.