Arbor Day

Happy Arbor Day, everyone!

Celebrated on the last Friday of April here in the United States, Arbor Day is a day dedicated to celebrating, well...trees. Trees are the lungs of the planet. They absorb carbon dioxide in the air and provide oxygen. They give homes to various animals. When you have a bunch of trees in a forest, they can also help regulate climate and mitigate natural disasters. Not to mention trees are pretty to look at. I did talk a bit more about forests and the joys of them here. 

Arbor Day celebrations can be traced to Spain in 1594. The mayor of a Spanish town called Mondoñedo organized an arbor plantation festival there. Spain also gave the world what can be considered the first modern Arbor Day. In 1805, Juan Abern Santres, the local priest of the Spanish village Villanueva de la Sierra launched this initiative with the support of the local population. Santres was a bit of an environmentalist, viewing trees as important for health and beauty. 

In the USA, where I live, politician and newspaper editor J. Sterling Morton (who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Grover Cleveland) originated the American Arbor Day. Morton loved trees, and during his time as secretary of the Nebraska Territory in 1872, he called for a holiday dedicated to planting trees. It was believed that in response to this, on the first American Arbor Day on April 10, 1872, one million trees were planted in the state. 1885 would see Arbor Day become a legal holiday in Nebraska, and the date of its observance would become April 26. This would spread to 45 other states and territories by 1920. Nowadays, it's observed in all US states. If you want to learn more about the history of Arbor Day, you can do so here.

Many countries observe their version of Arbor Day at various times throughout the year. But the theme is the same: planting and appreciating trees. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give my blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!