UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon Plants an Olive Tree in the Nations Grove

"I hope that this young tree I have planted today will be a symbol of the efforts underway to minimize the ecological damage caused by greenhouse gases.”

March 26, 2007

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was clearly excited as he used a hoe to fill in the hole in which he had just planted an olive tree in the Nations Grove at the foot of Mount Herzl and Yad VaShem. “Althoug This is not my first visit to Israel it is in fact the first time that I have ever planted a tree anywhere,” said the UN Secretary General, and added, “I should like to thank KKL-JNF and the Jerusalem Municipality for including the UN in the Nations Grove that has been planted by world leaders. When the tree grows, in a few years’ time, I hope to come back here and see if it’s flourishing as healthily as I hope the cooperation between Israel, KKL-JNF and the UN will flourish.”

The impressive ceremony at the Nations Grove took place at the conclusion of the Secretary General’s visit to Yad VaShem. “It’s an honor for me to plant an olive tree, whose branches form part of the UN’s symbol, on this site below Yad VaShem. The UN as a whole has enlisted in the battle against hatred and anti-Semitism, and just as the General Assembly unanimously condemned Holocaust denial so, today, we are helping member countries to operate educational programs on the Holocaust. It was a unique occurrence that has to be remembered and must never be allowed to happen again.”

The planting ceremony, which was conducted by Mrs. Sharon Gol, who is in charge of KKL-JNF’s links with international organizations, was unique in that, for the first time ever, a special tree-planting certificate was prepared for the Secretary General of the United Nations. The certificate states that the tree he planted will absorb 1.5 tons of greenhouse gases and will thereby contribute to the global ecology. In her speech Mrs. Gol laid special emphasis on the centrality of KKL-JNF as Israel’s largest green organization and on its contribution to the environment and quality of life in both Israel and the rest of the world, thanks to increasing international cooperation.

The UN Secretary General also raised this topic, and praised KKL-JNF’s contribution to the environment: “The issue of world climate change is high on the UN agenda. Quite simply, it is a matter of saving the world, with the help of UN member states. I hope that this young tree I have planted today will be a symbol of the efforts underway to minimize the ecological damage caused by greenhouse gases.”

KKL-JNF World Chairman Efi Stenzler and Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky welcomed the UN Secretary General when he arrived at the Nations Grove accompanied by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Gillerman and an entourage of dozens of escorts and UN officials. Together they unveiled the new plaque which has been added to the names of world leaders who have planted trees in the wood.

KKL-JNF World Chairman Efi Stenzler said in his welcoming speech that the olive tree planted on this occasion was the first of six million trees which KKL-JNF has committed itself to planting in the coming decade in the context of the international “Green Belt” campaign declared by the UN, in which a total of one billion trees will be planted. Efi Stenzler emphasized KKL-JNF’s contribution to the environment in Israel and throughout the world, and referred to the trees as “the green medicine to combat global warming.” Stenzler presented the Secretary General with the first certificate issued for a tree planted to reduce global warming, and remarked, “Today, as Neil Armstrong said on his famous first step on the moon, ‘this is a small step for man and a large leap for mankind.’”