Talk about dedication! For 26 years, Sehmus Erginoglu, 71, has been tending to a forest he single-handedly created in his hometown of Mardin, South Turkey. The area used to be a wasteland until Erginoglu decided to do something about it. He cleared out rubbish from the sites, installed water pipes, and then planted saplings. Today, there are roughly 11,000 trees on the compound, not to mention thousands more planted nearby.
Erginoglu voluntarily works on the trees every day. He also built 50 wells over the years to water them. As a young man, he worked as a truck driver. When he got older, he used the money he saved to look after the forest with the help of the Turkish authorities, who provided him with pine tree saplings.
He says his greatest happiness is watching people come and enjoy time under the trees.
Images: Murat Bayram/MEE