4,260 km Hike - Trees & Women's Empowerment -Nepal

Through 8848 Trees’ 1-1-1 program – with just $1, you can plant 1 tree and create employment for 1 hour for a female villager in rural Nepal. Alongside female empowerment through wage-based employment, you can create long-term, self-sustaining forest-based benefits for the community at more than twice your contribution. Follow the hike by the Founder of 8848 Trees and support the fundraiser by contributing during the 2,650 miles (4,260 km) long hike of the natural wilderness of the Pacific Crest Trail (the world's longest designated hiking trail according to Guinness World Records) in the western United States. Donations go directly to 8848 Trees. Donations are tax-deductible in the US.




BACKGROUND
The world loses a net of 3.3 million hectares of forest every year. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates a total of 2 billion hectares of degraded and deforested land worldwide awaits reforestation-based restoration. FAO also estimates that the self-sustaining economic benefits of restoration at $5,600/hectare created from wood products, non-wood forest products, carbon sequestration, and additional crop yields are more than twice the $2,400/hectare costs. This vital environmental opportunity can be used to create economic benefits in underdeveloped regions.

Nepal – a country in South Asia, is one such region of greater needs. 19% of the total population in Nepal lives below the poverty level on less than $0.50/per day. 80% of the entire population lives in rural areas and 1/3 are forest-dependent. 61% of the working-age population remains outside the labor force, simply due to lack of job opportunities. With a dismal gender inequality ranking of 115th globally and a female-to-male ratio outside the labor force of 2-1, females make up a significant portion of Nepal’s unemployed population that is poor, rural, forest-dependent.

8848 Trees, a  501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in December 2020 in California, US, wants to take upon this socio-economic challenge in Nepal by addressing it through benefits that can be created from the reforestation-based restoration. To achieve this, it partners with poorly resourced forest user groups and empowers unemployed females from within the community as agents of reforestation – it creates employment opportunities for them to run plant nurseries, plant trees, and protect them to maturity, using methods of community forestry. With “Tree Provides” as its motto, it uses trees & women’s employment as the backbone to create socio-economic and environmental benefits at the community level.

8848 Trees' objective is to plant and protect 5 million trees and create employment opportunities equivalent to 500 thousand workdays over 10 years (equivalent to 200 full-time employment each year). During its 1st year of operation, it plans to plant 13,000 trees in the June-July 2021 tree-planting season. It has partnered with two forest user groups and has begun the initial nursery set-up process.

To raise seed money and to expand its program in 2021 and beyond, 8848 Trees has organized a "1-penny-per-kilometer" fundraiser during which the Founder of 8848 Trees will thru-hike 2,650 miles (4,260 km) of the natural wilderness of the Pacific Crest Trail in the western United States. It intends to raise $150,000 in generous contributions through crowdfunding from individuals during the April-September 2021 hiking fundraiser. Regular YouTube vlogs documenting progress along the hike will be posted from the trail in the Updates section as well as at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjUPhN7LErE3jxuD9I0F7BA/featured