Arbor Day

 

Arbor Day
Trees are the main focus of Arbor Day.
Observed by	United States and other countries.
Type	Cultural
Significance	A holiday celebrating trees.
Date	Final Friday in April (US), various other days (other countries).
Celebrations	Planting and caring for trees, educating about the importance of trees.
Related to	Greenery Day (Japan)

Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. Arbor Day originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, United States but is also celebrated by several other countries. In Japan, a similarly-themed Greenery Day is celebrated.

History

Arbor Day was established by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1872.

J. Sterling Morton and his wife moved from Detroit, Michigan to the Nebraska Territory in 1854 , where he was the editor of Nebraska's first newspaper. His influence as a journalist led to his involvement in politics, and he became a promoter of the settlement of Nebraska. The lack of trees, however, was an obstacle.

The Great Plains had been described as the "Great American Desert." The tallgrass prairie that covered much of Nebraska at that time could provide rich farmland, but without wood for building houses or for fuel to heat homes, few found it convenient to settle there. Even the allotment of free land by the Homestead Act failed to entice sufficient numbers of families to relocate to Nebraska.^{[citation needed]}Morton proposed Arbor Day as a tree planting holiday in 1872 at a meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture. On the first Arbor Day, prizes were offered to counties and to individuals for properly planting the largest number of trees. It was claimed that more than 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska on that day.

During the course of the 1870s, several other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day. Schools began to adopt the tradition beginning in 1882. By 1894, Arbor Day was celebrated in each state of the United States.

Morton's home in Nebraska City, Arbor Lodge, is a state historical park, which includes an arboretum and extensive landscaped grounds. Adjacent to the public park, Morton's farm, now called Arbor Day Farm, is run by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

Observances

Australia

July 28 is National Tree Planting Day for schools throughout Australia and 30 July is National Tree Planting Day for the rest of the Nation.

Belgium

International Day of Treeplanting is celebrated in Flanders on or around 21 March as a theme-day/educational-day/observance, not as public holidays. Tree planting is sometimes combined with awareness campaigns of the fight against cancer: Kom Op Tegen Kanker.

Cambodia

National Tree Planting Day is on June 1.

Central African Republic

National Tree Planting Day is on July 22.

Iran

National Tree Planting Day is on March 5.

Israel

Israel celebrates Tu B'Shevat, the new year for trees, on the fifteenth day of the month of Shevat, which usually falls in January or February. Originally based on the date used to calculate the age of fruit trees for tithing as mandated in Leviticus 19:23-25, the holiday now is most often observed by planting trees, or raising money to plant trees.^[1]

Japan

Japan celebrates a similarly themed Greenery Day, held on May 5th. Although it has a similar theme to Arbor Day, its roots lay in celebration of the birthday of Emperor Hirohito.

Kenya

National Tree Planting Day is on April 21.

Lesotho

National Tree Planting Day is on March 21.

Malawi

National Tree Planting Day is on the 2nd Monday of December.

Namibia

National Tree Planting Day is on September 7.

Netherlands

Since conference and of the Food and Agriculture Organization's publication World Festival of Trees, and a resolution of the United Nations in 1954: "The Conference, recognising the need of arousing mass consciousness of the aesthetic, physical and economic value of trees, recommends a World Festival of Trees to be celebrated annually in each member country on a date suited to local conditions"; it has been adopted by the Netherlands. In 1957 the National Committee Day of Planting Trees/Foundation of National Festival of Trees (Nationale Boomplantdag/Nationale Boomfeestdag) was created.

On or around 21 March (the first day of Spring) or sometimes on or around 21 September (the first day of Autumn), threequarters of city school-children and others plant trees.

In 2007 the 50th anniversairy will be celebrated with special golden jubilee-activities.

New Zealand

New Zealand's first Arbor Day planting was in Greytown in the Wairarapa on 3 July 1890. The first official celebration took place in Wellington in August 1892, with the planting of pohutukawa and Norfolk pines along Thorndon Esplanade.

Born in 1855, Dr Leonard Cockayne (generally recognised as the greatest botanist who has lived, worked, and died in New Zealand) worked extensively on native plants throughout New Zealand and wrote many notable botanical texts. Even as early as the 1920s he held a vision for school students of New Zealand to be involved in planting native trees and plants in their school grounds. This vision bore fruit and schools in New Zealand have long planted native trees on Arbor Day.

Since 1977 New Zealand has celebrated Arbor Day on June 5, which is also World Environment Day, prior to then Arbor Day, in New Zealand, was celebrated on August 4 - which is rather late in the year for tree planting in New Zealand hence the date change.

What the Department of Conservation (DOC) does for Arbor Day: Many of DOC’s Arbor Day activities focus on ecological restoration projects using native plants to restore habitats that have been damaged or destroyed by humans or invasive pests and weeds. There are great restoration projects underway around New Zealand and many organisations including community groups, landowners, conservation organisations, iwi, volunteers, schools, local businesses, nurseries and councils are involved in them. These projects are part of a vision to protect and restore the indigenous biodiversity and create healthy habitats where native animals can live.

People's Republic of China

Arbor Day (植樹節) is on March 12 to commemorate the passing of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Chinese revolutionary, in 1925. In 1981, the fourth session of the Fifth National People's Congress adopted the "Resolution on the unfolding of a nationwide voluntary tree-planting campaign". This resolution stipulated that every able-bodied citizen between the ages of 11 and 60 should plant three to five trees per year or do the equivalent amount of work in seedling, cultivation, tree tending or other services. Supporting documentation instructs all units to report population statistics to the local afforestation committees as the basis for workload allocation. Moreover, those failing to do their duty are expected to make up planting requirements, provide funds equivalent to the value of labour required or pay heavy fines. Therefore, the tree-planting campaign is actually compulsory, or at least obligatory (that is, an obligation to the community). The "voluntary" in the title referred to the fact that the tree-planters would "volunteer" their labour.

South Africa

Arbor Day was celebrated from 1983 until 1999 in South Africa, when the national government extended it to National Arbor Week, which lasts from 1-7 September. Two trees, one common and one rare, are highlighted to increase public awareness of indigenous trees, while various "greening" activities are undertaken by schools, businesses and other organizations.

South Korea

Arbor Day (Sikmogil, 식목일) was a public holiday in South Korea on April 5 until 2005. The day is still celebrated, though. On non-leap years, the day coincides with Hansik.

Sri Lanka

National Tree Planting Day is on October 15.

Tanzania

National Tree Planting Day is on January 1.

Taiwan

Arbor Day (植樹節) is a public holiday in the Republic of China (Taiwan) on March 12. It commemorates the passing of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Father of the Republic of China, in 1925.

Uganda

National Tree Planting Day is on March 24.

United States

The national holiday is celebrated every year on the last Friday in April; it is a civic holiday in Nebraska. Each state celebrates its own state holiday. The customary observance is to plant a tree.

See also

• Earth Day
• National Arbor Day Foundation
• Oak Apple Day
• Tu Bishvat
• Timeline of environmental events

References

External links

• International Arbor Days
• History of Arbor Day
• National Arbor Day Foundation
• State Arbor Days and state trees
• Arbor Day Leaves - A Complete Programme For Arbor Day Observance, Including Readings, Recitations, Music, and General Information, available at Project Gutenberg.

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