The Boy Who Grew A Forest
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Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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Hello, everyone, and welcome to Earth one story time Presented
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by Riverside Public Utilities.
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Today's reading is the true story of Gaddafi paying the
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Boy Who Grew a forest, Written by Sofia Goals and
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illustrated by Kayla Heron.
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This is a true story about a boy who did
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grow a forest and the importance that this forest had
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on his community.
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The best time to plant a tree was 20 years
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ago. The second best time to plant a tree is
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now. That's a proverb in India, on a large river
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island, among farms and families hard at work, there lived
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a boy who love trees.
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Trees meant shade, food and shelter for many.
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But each rainy season, floodwaters swallowed more and more of
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the beautiful, tree covered land.
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The boys precious island was shrinking, eroding away with the
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rushing river, leaving empty sandbars behind.
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The boy witnessed animals stranded on those sandbars, their homes
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destroyed. He feared that if any animals withered without trees,
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people would too.
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The boy shared his fears with the village.
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The elders explained that the only way to help animals
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was to create new homes for them.
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They gifted the boy with 20 bamboo siblings.
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How brave of him to even speak up at a
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young age alone, he canoed down the muddy river.
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He wished he could cover all the land with trees,
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but a large sandbar nearby was a place to start.
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The land was too barren for animals, the shores to
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sandy for leafy trees.
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Wood, bamboo grow, the boy hoped, determined he began to
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plant one shaft two, then three.
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Every day he watered the saplings by hand, sweat trickling
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down his face and chest.
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He built a watering system to help and loved heavy
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buckets from the river.
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His arms grew tired, his back sore.
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Still, each day he tended to the plants, and over
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time the bamboo patch grew into a healthy thicket.
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The boy was proud of his work, but he worried
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it wouldn't be enough to stop the swelling river or
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to provide shelter for animals.
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If he wanted more plants to grow, he would have
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to create a richer soil.
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The boy carried cow dung.
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Earth warms termites and angry right ants that bit him
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on the journey to their new home.
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He brought seeds from neighboring villages over trails through brush
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down the river each day he planted.
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As years passed and the boy grew, so did a
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forest. 10 acres, 20 acres, then 40 wildlife returned for
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the first time in many years.
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Buffalo one horned rhinos and snakes, Gibbons, migratory birds and
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elephants. The man's forest teemed with life and diversity.
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Not everyone was happy.
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Fear swept over the villages when tigers arrived, so the
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man planted more grasses to attract small animals that would
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keep the Tigers happy.
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In the forest, elephants wandered into neighbouring farms to feast
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on the crops, so the man planted from fruiting trees
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to help feed the hungry elephants.
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Some wanted to harvest the forest to build homes, but
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the man was there to plant a new.
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Others tried to hunt the animals for their horns, and
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for but the man was there to protect if you
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thought the forest would last.
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But the man believed in its strength.
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Now in India, on a large river island among wildlife
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and trees as tall as buildings, their lives, some men
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who has planted a forest.
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The forest is called um, ally after a man named
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Yadav Malalai, paying who never stopped planting and pruning and
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protecting only by growing plants, the Earth will survive by
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Gaddafi Paying what an amazing story It was all about
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one man who never gave up on a forest and
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look at all he created on his land a little
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about to Dav Malalai paying.
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He grew up near Manzhouli Island, one of the world's
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largest river islands, located in the brush mop Putra River
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in northeastern India, as a young teenager to Dav witnessed
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the death of hundreds of snakes that floodwater stranded on
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a barren sand bar near the island, heartbroken over the
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snakes in 1979 to dog began planting to help his
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beloved island and the wildlife who shared it with him.
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Since then, defying all odds, Yadav has quietly planted, nurtured
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and grown an entire forest on his own.
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Named after him, Malalai Forest is said to be over
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1000 300 acres that's larger than 900 football fields and
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still growing.
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The forest is now home to thousands of different species
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of plants and trees.
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This unexpected sanctuary provides life and shelter for many animals,
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some endangered.
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In 2008, almost 30 years after he planted his first
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seedlings, Jadaveon Forest was discovered by local authorities tracking a
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herd of elephants.
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Since then, Yadav has been recognized worldwide and received numerous
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awards and honors, including the tile, the Forest Man of
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India. Yadav hopes his mission will inspire others to make
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the world a greener place.
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If one person can plant an entire forest, can you
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imagine what many could do?
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The authors note.
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Gaddafi's Love of the Earth and his idea on reforestation
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are important concepts that I also hold dear.
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I grew up in northern Florida surrounded by forest.
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My father was a prominent forest Ecologist, My mother was
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a science writer and our house was constantly filled with
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the visiting scientists from around the world.
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I especially enjoyed listening to their tales of the environment
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in far away places, and as I grew older, I
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developed a deep love for our planet and keen interest
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in sharing.
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It's wonderful stories.
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I hope that you duff story triggers your inner Ecologist
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as it didn't mind.
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If you plan to see today, you never know what
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it might become.
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So plant on plant a forest of your own.
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Here are some materials and directions on how to plan
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to your own forest.
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What a great idea.
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If you have an idea of planting one plant or
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two plants or maybe even three plants, go for it
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just like Gaddafi did.
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He believed in something and he made a difference.
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Even if you're young or old, it doesn't matter how
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old you are.
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If you believe in yourself and in your idea, it
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will come and it will happen.
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Never underestimate yourself.
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Thanks for listening.
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The end.