The man on a mission to plant 5m trees in 5 years
A man in southern Senegal has set himself the ambitious task of planting five million trees over the next five years.
This visionary project came to Adama Diémé when he returned home to the Casamance region in 2020 after a few years working in Europe.
The 48-year-old was shocked that in villages that were populated with hundreds of gigantic trees in his youth, only a handful, if any, now remained.
"In some villages, you can't find one tree. They cut them but they don't think about planting again," he told the BBC recently.
Across Africa desertification is one of the reasons blamed for deforestation but, in this area, along the sweeping expanse of the Casamance River, the trees are more likely to have been cut down for construction purposes like building houses, or to make charcoal.
Diémé, who now works as a project manager for a Spanish non-governmental organisation in Casamance and also volunteers as an agricultural trainer, is determined to change all that.
With no great reserves of wealth, he began to raise money to make his dream a reality - and has used $5,000 (£4,100) from his own pocket to kick-start the initiative.
He has been working hard to engage with communities across the region and to reach out to women, who he knew would be able to rise to the challenge of organising the mass planting of seedlings.
"You go into a village and there's no women, it's a disaster," Diémé said.
"But if you go to a village with only women, it's paradise - they are hardworking and work all day every day.
"If you want to lead a good project start with women," Diémé added.
What he has done is to couple his passion to plant trees by helping women gain skills to become small-scale farmers and sell their produce at local markets.
Mr Diémé's project is known as Ununukolaal, which in the local language Jola means "Our Trees".
Up to 12 kinds are being planted, from palms and tamarinds to kapoks and lemon trees - the varieties depend on the needs of the community and the terrain.
Over the last three years more than 142,000 seedlings have been tended and have taken root.
It means a staggering amount of planting still needs to be done if Diémé is to reach his goal within the next five years - but he is not daunted.
We hope he can achieve his goal. Best wishes, Diémé.
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