2 Feb 2011

UN / YEAR OF FORESTS LAUNCH WRAP

At the launch of the International Year of Forests in New York, 13-year-old Felix Finkbeiner, Founder of Plant-for-the Planet Foundation, places his hand over GA President Joseph Deiss’s mouth and says, “stop talking and start planting.” UNTV / FILE

Posted at: February 2, 2011 6:21 pm

Duration: 03:08

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / YEAR OF FORESTS LAUNCH WRAP
TRT: 3.08
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 2 FEBRUARY 2011, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

RECENT 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

2 FEBRUARY 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, General Assembly
3. Cutaway, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Joseph Deiss, President of the 65th General Assembly, United Nations:
"Each minute that we spend on this planet breathing in and breathing out, about 25 hectares of forest are lost mainly due to conversion to other uses."
5. Cutaway, Wangari Maathai takes the podium
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Prize winner:
"It is virtually impossible to realize many of the other MDGs if number seven MDG on sustainability is only given lip service. Sustainability of resources like water, trees and forests is the mother of all other MDGs. Where governments ignore sustainability they are also giving only lip service to the other MDGs and it shows."
7. Cutaway, children from the "Plant for the Planet" foundation
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Felix Finkbeiner, 13 year old, Plant for the Planet, founder:
"It is now more than four years ago that we children started the Plant for the Planet initiative planting one million trees in each country of the world. It is also four years ago that Wangari Maathai started a billion tree campaign. It is now time that we work together, we combine our forces, old and young; rich and poor, and together we can plant a trillion trees. We can start a trillion tree campaign."
9. Cutaway, young girl from the "Plant for the Planet" foundation
10. Med shot, Felix Finkbeiner covers Joseph Deiss's mouth
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Felix Finkbeiner, 13 year old, Plant for the Planet, founder:
"We started the campaign "Stop Talking Stop Planting" because we need more action. We need less talk and more action. Imagine a very prominent person is giving a speech in front of a microphone and the camera zooms on his face a suddenly a hand covers his mouth and he struggles to speak, the camera zooms out and there is a child standing beside that person saying: ' stop talking start planting'."
12. Various shots, Felix and children from the "Plant for the Planet" foundation at the General Assembly
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Felix Finkbeiner, 13 year old, Plant for the Planet, founder:
"We children also organized "Plant a for the Planet" academies at which we educate other children that take also other presentations and that they can also organize planting parties and all this. And we've already educated about two thousand and five hundred children at these academies. In total there are about a hundred thousand children participating in planting trees worldwide in ninety one countries."

FILE / JULY 2007, FLONA TAPAJOS, AMAZON REGION, BRAZIL

14. Various shots, trees being cut down  
15. Wide shot, tree falling down
16. Tracking shot, aerial view of piled up tree trunks

STORYLINE:

"Forests for People" was the main theme of the International Year of Forests, launched today (2 February 2011) at a ceremony at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York.

The ceremony presided over by General Assembly President Joseph Deiss, was part of the high-level segment of the UN Forum on Forests, an intergovernmental policy forum dealing with forest-related issues.

Deiss noted that it is very meaningful that the International Year of Forests follows on the heels of the International Year of Biodiversity (2010), which concluded with the adoption of a new strategic plan containing targets on significantly reducing, by 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, and sustainably managing forestry to ensure biodiversity conservation.

He reminded guests that each minute they spent on the planet breathing in and breathing out, "about 25 hectares of forest are lost mainly due to conversion to other uses."

Nobel Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, who was present at the ceremony, noted in her address that the importance of the International Year was the opportunity to explore the value of the trees, the forests and the environment, as well as environmental services.

Maathai stressed that it was "virtually impossible" to realize any of the other Millennium Development Goals if goal number seven on sustainability was "only given lip service."

She added that sustainability of resources like water, trees and forests was "the mother of all other MDGs," and if governments ignored sustainability "they are also giving only lip service to the other MDGs and it shows."

Thirteen-year old Felix Finkbeiner, founder of the "Plant for the Planet" foundation was inspired by Wangari Maathai at the age of nine and went on to plant an additional million trees in Germany. Today his organization is working in ninety one countries.

Addressing the event in the company of other children from the foundation, Felix told everyone how four years ago "Plant for the Planet" had begun to plant trees around the world and invited everyone "old and young; rich and poor" to join forces adding "together we can plant a trillion trees; we can start a trillion tree campaign."

Following his speech Felix took the opportunity to cover the mouth of the President of the General Assembly, Joseph Deiss as he and other children have done with other leaders around the world to make the foundations point 'Stop Talking Start Planting'.

In an interview later in the day, Felix explained they had started the campaign "Stop Talking Stop Planting" because of the need for more action.

He also explained that in total there were about a hundred thousand children participating in planting trees worldwide in 91 countries.

The General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests, on which at least 1.6 billion people depend for their daily livelihoods and subsistence needs.

Forests are also home to over 60 million people, mainly members of indigenous and local communities, who reside in forests.