United Nations Photo

Haitian Students Breathe New Life into Depleted Pine Forest

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:36:58 GMT

To commemorate International Environment Day (annually 5 June) hundreds of Haitian students take part in a massive tree-planting campaign at a pine forest, one of Haiti’s last, four hours drive from Port-au-Prince. The once-great forest has been depleted for charcoal production and to make room for farm land.

A young girl carries her pine seedling.

FAO Ambassador Carl Lewis Visits Haiti

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:36:58 GMT

U.S. athlete and Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis (left) plants a fruit tree at a community farm for people displaced by the January 2010 earthquake, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Mr. Lewis, a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is supporting the initiative “Fruit Trees for Haiti”, as well as the International Year of Forests and the Race Against Hunger.

Haiti's Forests

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:36:58 GMT

For this year’s observance of International Environment Day the United Nations is focusing on the plight of forests worldwide. In Haiti, there remains less than one percent tree cover. Most deforestation is caused by the local population’s need for land to farm, wood to build with, and charcoal to cook with. The result has left immense tracks of land bare to the elements, hastened massive soil erosion and increased land slides and flash flooding.

View of deforested land near Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Haiti's Forests

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:36:58 GMT

Timor Women Perform Traditional Dance

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:36:58 GMT

Women perform the traditional "tebe-tebe" dance and play the "babadok" by a sacred tree in Camenasa.

Ivorian Refugees in Liberia

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:36:58 GMT

A family of refugees from Côte d’ Ivoire walks along a forest track towards Zwedru, a town in south-eastern Grand Gedeh County, Liberia. As of late March, more than 100,000 Ivorian refugees had crossed into eastern Liberia after lingering political tension from disputed presidential elections in their home country erupted into violence in February. Most have gone to Liberia’s Nimba County, but in a sign that the fighting has shifted, some 6,000 Ivorians recently fled across the border into Grand Gedeh. Most of the new arrivals have settled in remote villages – some inaccessible by car. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) sent a mission to assess the needs of the refugees in the region.

UN Geneva Office Celebrates Forests Year with "Art of Trees"

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:36:58 GMT

A view inside "The Art of Trees: A Forest Gallery”, the exhibit at the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG) celebrating the 2011 International Year of Forests. Artworks, wood products, sculptures and trees were on display.

UN Launches 2011 International Year of Forests

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:36:58 GMT

Young members of the “Plant-for-the-Planet Children Initiative” attend the UN Headquarters launch of the 2011 International Year of Forests. Thirteen-year-old Felix Finkbeiner (second from left) spoke at the launch on behalf of the group.

UN Launches 2011 International Year of Forests

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:36:58 GMT

Thirteen-year-old Felix Finkbeiner speaks on behalf of the “Plant-for-the-Planet Children Initiative” at the launch of the 2011 UN International Year of Forests, at UN Headquarters, New York.

Secretary-General Appoints Actor Ed Norton as Biodiversity Goodwill Ambassador

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:36:58 GMT

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) and actor Edward Norton, newly-appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, hold up a "2010: International Year of Biodiversity" tee-shirt.