​Jadav Payeng has been planting trees in his corner of Assam, India, for the last 30 years. Because of a lack of trees, the Brahmaputra River Basin floods every year and causes extensive damage to crops, homes, and livelihoods. Jadav decided to transform this barren island by planting trees, and the area is now a jungle forest of over 1,360 acres—larger than New York’s Central Park.

These trees have greatly benefited the region. Farming has resumed, the flooding in that area has stopped, and wildlife such as rhinos, elephants, and tigers have made his forest their home. And he has a vision for the future—he wants to make environmental science a part of every school’s curriculum and have each student plant and care for a tree.

That’s not to say that it’s been easy for him. Over the years, he’s had to fend off greedy poachers, corrupt politicians, and loggers, but he says, “I don’t know exactly what I get out of this, but I feel happy when I plant trees. I will continue doing this until I die.”

Another world changer was Wangari Maathai, from Kenya, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental restoration and community development work.

​When Wangari was a teenager, she attended a mission school where she was an active member of the Legion of Mary club that did local agricultural projects and whose motto was “Serve God by serving fellow human beings.” In her early twenties, she won a scholarship to study at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, where she met activists who were trying to rid the city of air pollution and saw that their efforts had a meaningful impact. I was growing up in Pittsburgh at the time, and I can testify to the marked change in the air quality.

​贾达夫·佩恩（Jadav Payeng）在过去30年来，一直在印度阿萨姆邦的地区种树。由于缺少树木，布拉马普特拉河流域每年都洪水泛滥，对庄稼，房屋和生计造成广泛的破坏。贾达夫决定透过种树来改造这个荒芜的岛屿，该地区现在是一个占地5.5平方公里的森林，比纽约的中央公园还大。

这些树木使该地区受益匪浅。农民恢复了耕种，该地区不再有洪水泛滥。这里成为犀牛，大象和老虎等野生动物的家园。他对未来有远见，希望将环境科学纳入每所学校课程的一部分，并让每位学生种植和照顾一棵树。

这个工作对他来说并不很容易。多年来，他必须驱赶贪婪的偷猎者，腐败的政客和伐木工人。可他说，“我不知道我能从中获得什么，可是当我种树时，我感到很高兴。我会继续这样做，直到我生命的最后一天。”

另一位改变世界的人，是肯亚的旺加里·马塔伊（Wangari Maathai）。她因其环境复元和社区发展工作，而获得诺贝尔和平奖。

当旺加里是个青少年时，在一所教会学校就读。她在那里是玛利亚军团俱乐部的活跃成员，该俱乐部从事当地的农业项目，其座右铭是“为人类服务，以此服事上帝。”20多岁时，旺加里获得奖学金，得以在美国匹兹堡大学就读。在那里她遇到了一些社运份子，他们试图清除那座城市的空气污染，她看到他们的努力产生了有意义的大影响。当时我在匹兹堡，我能证实当时空气品质被显著改善了。

​Upon returning to Kenya, Wangari tried hard to improve the living conditions of women. She started the Green Belt Movement to help women become self-sufficient by growing saplings from native seeds. The beauty of her project is its simplicity. In her book Unbowed she says, “As I told the foresters, and the women, you don’t need a diploma to plant a tree.”

Her Green Belt Movement flourished through international cooperation with agencies such as the Norwegian Forestry Society, and over the years, representatives from over 15 countries came to see and learn how they too could implement similar projects in their own countries to fight desertification, deforestation, drought, and famine.

Now millions of trees have been grown through these efforts, and many other initiatives have sprung from this one, like the UN’s Billion Tree Campaign.
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But what does reforestation have to do with you and me? Of course, most of us seldom plant trees, but there is more to it than that. It’s about doing our part to make the world a better place. The first step might be to find out what our “trees” are, and then nurture them while they grow.
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​回到肯亚后，旺加里努力改善妇女的生活。她发起了“绿带运动”，用本地种子种植幼树，来帮助妇女自给自足。她的计画之所以美好，在于它非常简单。她在《永不屈服》（Unbowed）一书中说，“正如我对森林管理者和妇女们所说的那样，你不需要文凭就能植树。”

她的“绿带运动”，是透过与挪威林业协会等机构的国际性合作而蓬勃发展的。多年来，超过15个国家的代表，来参观并理解他们如何能在自身的国家中实施类似的项目，以防治土地荒漠化，森林砍伐，干旱和饥荒。

现在透过这些努力，无数人已种植了数百万株树木。与此同时，诸如联合国的“十亿棵树运动”之类的许多其他活动，也应运而生。

可是，植树造林与你我有什么关系？我们大多数人固然很少种树，可我们能做到的不仅如此。这是指我们要尽力而为，使世界变得更美好。第一步也许是要找出我们的“树”是什么，然后培育它们，使它们成长壮大。