GCC April 2018 - Arbor Day

Jedes Jahr im April wird nun schon weltweit der "Tag des Baumes" gefeiert. Er soll uns die Bedeutung des Waldes in Erinnerung rufen. Während unzähliger Veranstaltungen werden weltweit dutzende Millionen Bäume gepflanzt. Mach mit!

Text VS:

Your have the power to change the world. So what will you do with it?

Text RS:

Plant a tree – plant a hope

Design notes from fox-and-the-hound (Christian Mackey):

I'm a huge fan of Arbor Day and the good it does. It's probably the only day I love work outside more than CITO day. It's far reaching effect is too often under-realized in our fast paced world of instant gratification because it takes so long before the effects become noticeable, but those affects change the world and the people who live on it for a very, very long time. Arbor Day actually began in the far northwest of Spain near the coastline in the village of Mondoñedo clear back in 1594. Over 200 years later in the small Spanish village of Villanueva de la Sierra, the very first modern annual Arbor Day would be celebrated in 1805 when a local priest would, after Mass, proceed to plant the very first Arbor Day tree... a humble Poplar in the place known as the Valley of Ejido. Following the festivities, a manifesto would be written and sent to the surround towns to spread the word and encourage tree plantings and so it began to spread and the world was changed forever.

On the face of the coin are the stripes of the flag of Spain in the outer border along with the origins of Arbor Day. Within this frame is the leaf of the silver poplar and the tiny cotton-like fleece of the poplar seed over it. From the simple act, change would come to the entire globe over the next two centuries. The historic words of the famous 19th century poet Lucy Larcom, which are the manifesto of the Arbor Day movement, are arranged to either side. On the reverse side is a personal challenge to become the power that continues to change the world along with two historical landmarks in the Arbor Day movement. The date 1872 commemorates the celebration of the first Arbor Day in the USA where an estimated one million trees were planted. The second date, 1907, marks the biggest turning point ever for Arbor Day when President Roosevelt, inspired by the recommendation of conservationist Major Israel McCreight, would issue an "Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States" which would begin a tradition of forestry guardianship being taught in US schools. With this new proclamation, thinking on conservation would become lifelong awareness. More than a hundred years later and all around the globe, hundreds of millions of trees are planted by volunteers. In the USA alone more than 10 million trees are planted annually and up to 50,000 acres of rain forest has been preserved so far. The change to the world is enormous and it all started with a single seed so small it could blow away in the wind on its downy fleece. Just one act can change the world. This coin encourages you to be that act of change.