Yemen Edition
Regional/Cultural Day
Yawm al-Shajara
Yemen has lost an estimated 90% of its forest cover in the last century. Tree Day is observed with tree-planting campaigns, though the survival rate of planted trees is low due to water scarcity and qat cultivation replacing native species. The AHA! moment: the terraced mountainsides of Yemen were once covered in coffee trees and fruit orchards. Qat replaced them, because qat pays 5-10 times more than any other crop, and a farmer who chooses coffee over qat is choosing poverty.
