Growing shade: An epic quest to plant a tree for every home in Senegal

With the turn of a corner, the scorched, sandy roads of this concrete jungle suddenly give way to cool, shaded streets. Lining doorways for a handful of blocks are trees planted just last year, already reaching toward second-story windows. Younger sprigs poke their stems out of planters made from refashioned tires. 

Modou Fall stops to inspect the trees on his way back from the beach, where he was shooting a video about ocean pollution with the local news site. He’s a well-known environmental activist, dubbed , or the plastic man, a nod to the homemade ghillie suit covered in plastic bags he dons at protests and when addressing the media. But it’s his “million trees, million tires” project that is transforming