One man, thousands of trees and heaps of determination: how regreening Guatemala transformed a village

Since 1999, Armando López Pocol and his team of volunteers have bucked the trend for deforestation, regenerating the landscape of the highlands with their Chico Mendes projectArmando López Pocol is showing off some of the thousands of trees he has planted in Pachaj, his village in the highlands of western Guatemala, when he suddenly halts his white pickup truck. Alongside an American volunteer, Lyndon Hauge, he gazes out over a charred field. Clouds of smoke are still billowing from the ground.As he walks through the ash-covered field, his optimistic speech turns to sadness and he pauses in silence to take in the barren landscape. Continue reading...