Savanna Wood Greening Partner, Jeunesse Park receiving the UNEP Award in New York

The Governor of Claifornia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, sent this personalised certificate to Savanna Wood Greening Partner, FTFA founder Jeunesse Park when she won the UNEP Sasakawa award recently.

Jeunesse Park with Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai.

Savanna Wood's Greening Partner Jeunesse Park of Food & Trees for Africa recently won the UNEP Sasakawa Prize 2007, a prize awarded yearly to individuals or institutions who have made a substantial contribution to the protection and management of the environment.
Commenting on this announcement, Ms. Park, who has been working on climate change since 1990, said that “it has been rewarding to recently see the growing interest in this crucial global crisis and to know that we have played a small part in facilitating action in South Africa”.

The four-member jury chose the co-winners, at a meeting at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, and the award ceremony will be held on 27 October 2007 at the Museum of Natural History, Rose Center for Earth and Space, in New York, USA.

The UNEP Sasakawa Prize acts as an incentive for environmental efforts that are sustainable and replicable in the long-term.  It recognizes innovation, groundbreaking research and ideas, and extraordinary grassroots initiatives from around the world. The candidates’ scope of activities is associated with the environmental theme of the year, which in 2007 is climate change.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: “Leadership is urgently needed if the international community is to rise to the challenge of climate change—leadership from the United Nations; governments, scientists; business and cities, but also leadership from individuals and civil society organizations working on the ground”.

“These two outstanding winners of the Sasakawa Prize 2007 embody leadership in its finest form - namely creative and determined action that demonstrates real and tangible difference to the people and communities they serve. In doing so our award winners are proving that combating climate change is not only do-able but links to the wider environmental, social and economic aims enshrined in targets such as the Millennium Development Goals,” he added.

Winners:

Ms. Jeunesse Park is the founder and CEO of Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA), South Africa’s only national greening and food gardening NGO which promotes greening, sustainable natural resource use and management and food security, through three key programs: Trees for Homes, EduPlant, and the Urban Greening Forum.

Ms. Park initiated the design of the first carbon calculator in South Africa, using the global Greenhouse Gas Reporting Protocol and launched the Carbon Standard in 2006 to make it easy and affordable for government, institutions and communities to offset carbon emissions.  The calculator evaluates carbon emitted by a range of activities such as energy consumption, land and air travel, and paper usage.  It then calculates how many trees one would need to plant to absorb the carbon generated through the process of photosynthesis. The calculator and associated action are instrumental in creating political and social awareness on means of addressing the effects of climate change on communities and the environment.

She has played a significant role in the introduction of the concept of urban forestry. Taking note that over 66% of South Africa’s population lives in degraded urban areas, she initiated the Urban Greening Forum. With support from various international and local environmental entities, she began working with national and local authorities and communities in the barren townships of South Africa to develop parks, nurseries, street trees and other greening projects. Her work has provided a model for several municipalities such as Soweto, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Port Elizabeth and Kimberley.

As for Trees for Homes, with the slogan “a house is not a home without a tree”, it aims to improve the quality of life of the under-privileged by providing plant material, environmental awareness, some short term employment and education for those living in low-cost housing developments, whilst offsetting carbon emissions.

“FTFA aims for sustainability and replication and, in the past few years, it has been encouraging to see the government and the private sector in South Africa approach us for assistance in addressing greening and climate change. We feel that over the past 18 years we have sown the seeds of awareness and they are now germinating and growing to ensure sustainable development for our emerging democracy”, said Ms. Park.

Instead of waiting around for the limelight to spur her into action, she has been working for 18 years with her NGO on accomplishments that could fill several books, and she intends on continuing.

“The prize money would be used to develop climate change awareness and education materials and assist in networking and presentations on climate change to government, business and the disadvantaged and underserved communities of South Africa,” assured Ms Park.

“Since we are currently lobbying big business in this country, the award would assist us with highlighting the importance of climate change, and options for addressing this, amongst the larger carbon emitters of South Africa,” she added.

Thanks to the education and support programs offered by FTFA, hundreds of people in South Africa are hard at work planting, reaping, creating and selling their homegrown or recycled wares.

NOTE:

The four member of UNEP Sasakawa Prize jury are:  Pr. Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate; Ms. Angela Cropper, Senator for Trinidad and Tobago; Ms. Wakako Hironaka, former Minister of the Environment of Japan; and Mr. Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director.

The UNEP Sasakawa Prize is sponsored by the Japan-based Nippon Foundation, an independent, non-profit grant-making organization that supports both domestic and international philanthropic projects. The UNEP Sasakawa Prize was originally established in 1982 by the late Ryoichi Sasakawa. The Prize was re-launched in its current format in 2005, and is currently chaired by Mr. Sasakawa's son, Yohei Sasakawa.

Ms. Park, SHIDHULAI and Ms. Omana T.K, a woman who has brought climate-friendly rice production, rainwater harvesting and bio gas power to thousands of villagers in rural India, were short-listed in June 2007 by Daniel Schrag, Director of Harvard University's Center for the Environment; Richard Ottinger, Pace University Law School, Zamba Batjargal, former minister of the Environment for Mongolia and Eric Falt, Director, Division of Communications and Public Information, United Nations Environment Programme.

Savanna Wood's Greening Partner, Jeunesse Park, founder of Food and Trees for Africa, was named one of six winners of the 52nd annual Chevron Conservation Awards for her efforts in combating climate change.