The Maisons du Monde Foundation unveils the programme for the first edition of “Aux Arbres!”

At the heart of this first edition programme

• A plenary session entitled “Views from Key Figures” which will give the floor to well-known speakers in the field, including Johanna Rolland, Mayor of Nantes and President of Nantes Métropole, Audrey Pulvar, President of the Nature et l’Homme Foundation, Tristan Lecomte, founder of PUR PROJET, Shubhendu Sharma, founder of Afforest, which specializes in “tiny forests”, capable of growing 300 trees in an area roughly the size of six parking spaces,  the Franco-Tunisian businesswomen Sarah Toumi, leader of the 1millionTreesforTunisia movement, and exceptional guest speakers who will give talks over the two days, such as the botanist Francis Hallé, the “earth doctors” Lydia and Claude Bourguignon and Maxime de Rostolan, the founder of the Fermes d’Avenir (Farms of the Future) and participant in the recent documentary : On a 20 ans pour changer le monde (We’ve got 20 years to change the world).

• More than a dozen round tables, for discussions and solutions in response to the current challenges facing forests including:
  • Connected Forests: how artificial intelligence, drones and the IOT are helping forests. This round table will focus on new technologies available to protect forests and will present a prototype developed by Topher White, founder of Rainforest Connection, that can detect the illegal felling of trees in real time.
  • The challenges and risks currently threatening French forests and solutions to preserve their biodiversity. A round table to highlight projects by actors in the field, and by associations, such as the NGO Coeur de Forêt (Heart of the Forest), which supports small private owners in the sustainable, “gentle” management their forests, through the planting of trees that enables the diversification of species among other actions.
  • The surprising medical properties of trees, a round table about the health benefits of trees highlighting the latest discoveries in “sylvotherapy” and forest intelligence, revealing how to look after yourself physically and mentally thanks to the remarkable healing powers of trees. For example, in Senegal, the Nebeday Association supports women’s co-operatives in the production of powder from the Moringa, known as the tree of life, a superfood that helps combat diabetes and malnutrition.