Alejandro Hz Renner

“Digging holes to plant trees is far more pleasant than digging trenches to protect yourself from enemy artillery.” That’s how Andrii Borbrovytskyi, a longtime ecovillage activist in our network and a veteran of Ukraine’s war, puts it. If you have land where you’d like to grow a forest or an orchard, or if you’d like to volunteer at a planting day, I’d like to hear from you. What strikes me about trees is how much they depend on what grows around them. A young tree can benefit from the shelter of its neighbours, and the relationships between roots, fungi and soil help shape the conditions in which it grows. I think there’s something we can learn from that about how we support one another. I don’t know what the next five years will bring. But when I plant a tree, I feel connected to life again. This autumn and next spring, I want to bring people together to plant forests and orchards across Ukraine. Some have land. Others have experience choosing what to plant and caring for young trees. Others can give a day and bring a shovel. These are the connections I’d like us to build. If you have a site in mind or want to join a planting day, leave a comment or send me a message. Tell me where you’re based and how you’d like to take part. 🌳 At GEN Global ecovillage network Ukraine, we organise tree planting days at ecovillages across our network every planting season. Each time, I’m grateful to people like Andrii for the light they bring and the meaning they give to this work. We’re also grateful to @maearthstudio, CISU - Civilsamfund i Udvikling / Civil Society in Development, @SilviProtocol and GainForest.Earth for supporting community initiatives like these.