BOOK ON WORLD'S FORESTS RECEIVES ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION MEDIA AWARD

04/01/99
Nebraska City, Neb.--Forests of Hope: Stories of Regeneration, a book by Christian Kuchli, will receive one of two National Arbor Day Foundation 1999 Media Awards at a special awards ceremony to be held here Saturday, May 1. The award recognizes the power of the media to promote tree planting and environmental stewardship.

Forests of Hope is Kuchli's firsthand account of organizations that are working on behalf of the world's forests. Kuchli, a professional forester, consultant, photographer, and journalist, visited and wrote about organizations in 12 countries. These include a group in China that has planted a "Great Green Wall," the "women under a tree" in Kenya who have planted millions of trees, efforts in Nepal to control erosion through tree planting, Tanzania's agroforestry projects on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, the reforestation of a million trees in Los Angeles by an organization known as TreePeople, and others.

Kuchli will attend the 27th annual National Arbor Day Foundation Awards banquet to receive the award. The ceremony is part of the Arbor Day weekend celebration held in Nebraska City from April 30-May 2.

Others being honored this year include the winner of the second 1999 Media Award, a one-hour documentary produced by Louisiana Public Television titled The Forest Where We Live; and the winners of the 1999 Celebration Awards: Dekalb, Illinois' First Arbor Day Celebration, which included 28,000 trees given away, and the Missouri Department of Conservation's "Arbor Week Activity Guide," which offers cross-curricular activities that teach students about trees and forestry.

The National Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit education organization dedicated to tree planting and environmental stewardship.