Trees for Palestine: Planting Peace in Palestine

“Planting Peace in Palestine” expresses our genuine belief that if there is to be peace, Palestine must have a viable economy and a means of earning a living.

The Trees for Palestine: Planting Peace in Palestine program works to strengthen farmers’ determination in the face of threats by providing new olive tree saplings (2 years old) to plant and nurture. Palestinian farmers are the protectors of the land, culture, traditions, and native environment. Farmers are also the food providers who help maintain Palestinian independence from Israeli Markets. The project seeks to support the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian farming communities as farmers have always sustained the collective agricultural tradition, that has built communities’ strength and held the opposition to colonization, as well as fought against land fragmentation.

The project’s goal is to compensate for the massive destruction of olive trees caused by the Israeli army, settlers, and the illegal Annexation Wall. It aims to maintain the original Palestinian olive trees, the baladi “Nabali” and “Souri” Olive Trees as well as maintain Palestine’s organic traditional and sustainable farming methods. The Project will share the relevant knowledge in many essential agriculture fields with the farmers, with a focus on younger generations and women farmers to work in agriculture and utilize the agricultural Palestinian potential.

The project goal is to supply each Olive grower near the Nablus, Jenin, Qalaqilya, and Sailfit districts with 20 to 50 olive tree saplings.

To reach as many farmers as possible, we designed the project to be as cost-effective as possible, especially given that the cost of a tree sapling has unfortunately been rising. The two most important factors are the cost of saplings from nurseries and the cost of water, as it is the most important tool to ensure the first-year growth of saplings.

Launched this year, 2023, Zatoun-Canada envisioned the project to be shared with partners around the world and is expected to garner enthusiastic support. With local support from Al’ard Palestinian Agri-Products Ltd and the Palestinian Fertile Land Alliance (PFLA) in Palestine, the program will be an equitable and efficient program that will deliver the greatest benefits to the farmers who need it most.

PFLA representatives will deliver and distribute the olive saplings to ensure prompt planting. They will also visit all participating farmers after planting to ensure proper tree care and assess their watering needs during the summer months. PFLA will support farmers who need help watering their trees in the summer.

The Trees for Palestine help connect Palestinian farmers and producers to the solidarity movements internationally while investing in sustainable movements in Palestine.

The sponsorship program is based on a certificate of 3 saplings for $20. However, you can sponsor any number of certificates (multiples of 3) or donate a fixed amount. A certificate of sponsorship will be issued in the donor’s name or another person’s name.