Gishwati Area Conservation Program Gets Support for Planting 1,000 Trees

(Des Moines, Iowa – April 11, 2011) – Plant-It 2020 has given Great Ape Trust and the Gishwati Area Conservation Program a grant to plant 1,000 native trees in and around the Gishwati National Forest in western Rwanda. Plant-It 2020 is a nonprofit international reforestation foundation that was founded by the late singer John Denver. The grant was underwritten by a generous gift to Plant-It 2020 by Aspen Academy, a national model school in Colorado.

“The Aspen Academy gift is the first through this new partnership with Plant-It 2020 which promises to be a steady source of support for our ambitious reforestation programs including the new forest corridor between Gishwati and Nyungwe National Park in southern Rwanda,” said Dr. Benjamin Beck, director of conservation for Great Ape Trust.

Plant-It 2020 uniquely focuses on projects that directly and beneficially impact people and endangered species.

“We are delighted to partner with Great Ape Trust and look forward to continuing to assist them in nourishing Rwanda’s endangered forests and chimpanzees,” said Michael Thau, executive director of Plant-It 2020.

Individuals and businesses wishing to support Plant-It 2020 and Great Ape Trust’s efforts to expand Gishwati and protect its chimpanzees are encouraged to contribute by visiting Plant-It 2020's Web site and selecting the “Rwanda” option.

GACP BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Gishwati Area Conservation Program began in late 2007 when H.E. President Paul Kagame and Great Ape Trust and Earthpark Founder Ted Townsend pledged at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting to found a “national conservation park” in Rwanda to benefit climate, biodiversity and the welfare of the Rwandan people. Great Ape Trust is a scientific research center in Des Moines, Iowa and Earthpark is a proposed national center for science-based ecological literacy and immersive learning for students, educators and visitors.

The Gishwati Forest Reserve’s history of deforestation extends over 50 years, in part because of ill-advised large-scale cattle ranching projects, resettlement of refugees after the genocide, inefficient small-plot farming and the establishment of plantations of non-native trees.  As a result, the area has been plagued with catastrophic flooding, erosion, landslides, decreased soil fertility, decreased water quality and heavy river siltation – all of which aggravate a cycle of poverty.