RELEAF RETURNS TO SARAJEVO.

AMERICAN FORESTS is returning to Sarajevo to help residents reclaim their urban forest.

The organization recently launched "Global ReLeaf Sarajevo," a tree-planting initiative that will help restore the war-torn city's devastated greenery. The project included an initial planting of 15,000 trees with the goal of planting 300,000 hillside trees and more than 3,000 trees along the city's streets. AMERICAN FORESTS planted 1,600 trees in Sarajevo in 1998, one for each child killed during the war for Bosnian independence.

Olympic Gold Medalist Debbie Armstrong and other dignitaries celebrated the initiative at a Washington, DC, press conference October 18. Sarajevo, host of the 1984 Winter Olympics, saw its tree cover decline dramatically during the war because residents used trees to heat homes and cook meals. Kemal Kurspahic, editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo independent daily Oslobodjenje, wrote about the city's tree loss for the Spring 1998 issue.

"Do whatever you can to stop the killing, to bring about peace, and then bring us trees," he wrote. "There aren't any left in Sarajevo. All city trees, all parks, have been cut for wood to give some warmth to people freezing in a city with no windows, no gas, no electricity."

Today Sarajevo's few remaining forests contain land mines and remain inaccessible to the public. The deforested slopes surrounding the city create a major risk of landslides.

Global ReLeaf Sarajevo is a collaborative effort of AMERICAN FORESTS, "Park" Sarajevo, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) for the 2002 Winter Olympics, the USDA Forest Service, the White House Millennium Council, and others.

To donate to Sarajevo ReLeaf, go to www.americanforests.org and click on "Sarajevo ReLeaf' or write to AMERICAN FORESTS, Sarajevo ReLeaf, P.O. Box 2000, Washington, DC 20013.