The International Olympic Committee has announced details of a project to plant an ‘Olympic Forest’ in Mali and Senegal as part of a major environmental project.
The project is part of the ‘Great Green Wall’ initiative, which restores landscapes across Africa’s Sahel region. The IOC will work with ‘Tree Aid’ to plant around 355,000 native trees across over 2,000 hectares in around 90 villages in Mali and Senegal, hosts of the Youth Olympics Games Dakar 2026.
The IOC will work hand in hand with local communities to ensure the Olympic Forest creates diverse social, economic and environmental benefits in an area which has experienced increased droughts and floods, leading to a steady degradation of land and sources of food.
“The Olympic Forest will support communities in Mali and Senegal by increasing their climate resilience, food security and income opportunities.” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “Addressing climate change is one of the IOC’s top priorities.”
This is the latest project in the IOC’s ‘climate-positive strategy’, which is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 30 per cent by the Olympic Games Paris 2024, in line with the Paris agreement. The ‘Olympic Forest’ will compensate for more than 100 per cent of the IOC’s residual emissions.
Tree Aid is a non-profit organisation with over 30 years experience working with people in the drylands of Africa to tackle poverty and the effects of the climate crisis, by growing trees and restoring and protecting land.
While the initial project will last four years, the IOC plans to open it up to other organisations in the Olympic Movement in the future, so they can contribute and grow the Olympic Forest.