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Ali Hossein Saadat has been planting trees in an Iranian forest for 70 years, since he was a 10-year-old boy. His efforts have inspired others in his community to follow in his footsteps.
A study by Nature Portfolio estimates that 15 billion trees are cut down each year and that the global tree count has dropped by nearly 46% since the beginning of human civilization. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, an estimated 420 million hectacres of forest has been lost worldwide through deforestation since 1990.
Many would read those statistics and feel despair. But one man, fueled by dedication and a deep-rooted love for nature, is fighting against the tide of deforestation one tree at a time. Ali Hossein Saadat, 80, hails from the village of Deh Kohneh in Iran and has spent the past 70 years planting trees in the Kamfiruz district in southwestern Iran. Ali planted his first tree at just 10 years old, and since then, he’s added more than 54 species of forest plants to this area known as the “Lost Paradise” due to its natural beauty.
Bluedot contributor Najmeh Tima spoke to him about how he got started, what drives him, and how he’s inspired others to plant their own trees.
Najmeh Tima: Can you tell me about your first experience planting trees?
Ali Hossein Saadat: I planted my first tree on Mount Hussein Qoli Khan in the village of Tal Surkh, where we had relatives, one autumn day. I was about 10 years old, and one of my relatives wanted to go and get firewood from the mountain. I used a step to get on the donkey that he was using to carry firewood. The elders wanted to get me off, but no matter what they did, I wouldn’t get off. So that I wouldn’t fall off the donkey, he sat in front and tied me to himself with a belt. When we got there, to keep me busy, he made a fire, gathered some acorns, and buried the acorns in the ashes to cook. He gave me some to put under the fire as well. But instead, I buried them in the ground. On the way back, when we were returning, I told him what I had done. My relatives told me, “They will grow green!” I remember when I was a child, when we went to the mountains and deserts to collect grass for our sheep and cattle, my father would always emphasize, “Always leave a branch of the plants you collect so that it will be a seed for next year.”
NT: What stood out to you as the biggest changes or achievements over these years?
AHS: Over the past 70 years, I’ve planted more than 50 different species of trees and shrubs — figs, oaks, olives, mountain pomegranates, willows, ash trees, thorny almonds, maples, and more. Each seed represents a quiet act of resistance against destruction, and each growing tree is a testament to patience and faith. In the beginning, I knew little about soil or seasons. I learned everything from the land itself — when to plant, how to water, how to protect saplings from sheep and goats. I discovered that not every seed becomes a tree, and that’s all right. Some feed the animals, some nourish the earth in other ways. What matters is persistence. To this day, I still carry my old saddlebag and containers to water the trees. I water seeds early in the morning or just before sunset, never under the hot noon sun. I place seeds deep in rock crevices, hide young plants with a dry brush, and mulch the roots with care. This isn’t just tree planting; it’s a way of life.
NT: How did your work affect your community in terms of environmental impact?
AHS: When I started this work, there were people who opposed me because they didn’t know what nature meant. They said, “You’re not responsible to plant trees in the mountains. You’re not responsible to carry water on your shoulders and carry it up the mountain.” But now the same people encourage me and they water the trees themselves, and I thank God for that. If I plant one seed, they plant 10 instead. Everyone from women, men, and even children come to plant seeds in the area. I am not saying it is all because of me or what I’m doing, but thank God, people come and do it better than me! My wife can’t come to the mountain with me to water or plant trees, but she’s always been my partner. If I wanted to water small seedlings at 2 a.m., she would prepare my things and help me go. I do my duty to the environment.
Each seed represents a quiet act of resistance against destruction, and each growing tree is a testament to patience and faith.
– Ali Hossein Saadat
NT: What motivates you to keep going after all these years?
AHS: A long time ago, I went out of the village as usual to explore nature. As I got a little farther away from the village, I saw smoke in the distance. I was worried that it might be a natural fire, so I quickly got myself to the fire. When I reached the point of the fire, as I was about to put out the fire, I noticed a snake that had been caught in the fire and burned. A little farther away, I saw a sparrow that had also been destroyed by the fire. Perhaps the loss of a sparrow or a snake is nothing to many people, but I was very sad that day that I could not do anything and the snake and sparrow were burned. I am not educated, but I know that nature is our religion and belief, our brother and sister, our family. If this nature is not there, we will not exist, we will not be healthy.
If a tree is lost anywhere in the world, it is as if the trees of our land have been lost. When a natural incident like a forest fire occurs anywhere on the Earth, I care. When the air is polluted and we are unable to stop its pollution, the air of the whole world gradually becomes polluted, and its harm reaches all the people of the world. When there are no trees, no water, no nature, there is no life and it ends. But when the weather is good, everyone enjoys it because life becomes easier for everyone, whether for children, old people, or the disabled, and they thank God for this. Animals are also happy and thank God when the state of nature is good for their lives. Although we do not understand their speech, they speak to God in their own language.
NT: What are your plans for the future?
AHS: My plan is simple: to continue planting as I’ve always done over the past 70 years. I want to make the whole world green, and I know I need the help of others to do that. So when nature is in a good state, it is good for both animals and humans.
