Increasing the level of greenery in an area harmonises the ecological balance that is too often destroyed in the march towards economic development. One of the effects of deforestation seen in Nepal and Bangladesh is the increased incidence of landslides.

Where soil and debris from river banks no longer have roots to bind them, they slide into the river bed, raising the level of the water. This also means that flood-levels are much higher than they were before deforestation.

Muslim Hands has been running tree plantation schemes in countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Palestine and Sudan with a vision to expand both in terms of planting and educating communities on the importance of preserving greenery.

In 2006, MH collaborated with the Islamic Foundation for Ecology & Environmental Sciences (IFEES) and the WWF, to run workshops in Aceh and North Sumatra to raise awareness of preserving the ecological balance.

This initial step has paved the way for the development of an ecological curriculum for all MH schools around the world. Environmental studies are almost entirely missing from schools in the developing world, but using the experiences of local experts to develop innovative teaching materials, MH is seeking to fill the gap for schools in the less economically developed world.

At worst, they make a situation more precarious than it was before. Economic development in the western world has come at a great environmental cost and it is only in recent decades that serious efforts have been made to clean rivers, protect forests and use sustainable energy sources. In the developing world there is an opportunity to avoid these mistakes and at MH, we don’t this to be an opportunity that is lost.