Trees for goals in the Eurocup: an initiative against deforestation in Colombia

Bogotá, Jul 4 (EFE).- The German non-profit organization 'Football for Forests' is donating money and resources to reforestation projects in Colombian tropical forests through a novel initiative that plants trees for every goal scored in the Eurocup.

The idea is for fans to register on the 'Football for Forests' app as supporters of one of the teams competing in the Eurocup and make a free donation, which will be used to plant vegetation based on each goal their team scores: "We are replanting rain forest areas the size of football fields through sports," they state.

"The world is currently losing the equivalent of 17 football fields every minute due to deforestation," the NGO states about the project, which aims to encourage millions of sports fans worldwide to support their teams "for a good cause."

In the year the initiative was launched, it helped restore the equivalent of more than 56 fields, and they hope that "European fever" will drive football fans to make a greater impact with their contributions.

A relief for Colombia

So far, the initiative has helped Colombians regain a "love for the forests they had lost," Rosario Uribe, a consultant for Climate Focus, one of the organizations that gave life to 'Football for Forests,' explained to EFE.

"Many people have realized the value of having trees and forests around their lands, and these donations are a huge incentive for all of them to begin valuing the amount of resources they bring to the environment," she said.

The initiative is currently active in several areas of Colombian tropical forest and has successful reforested examples like the Yurumi Natural Reserve in the Meta department in the center of the country and the Amazonía Emprende Forest School in Florencia, the capital of Caquetá in the south.

There are also four other locations already in the implementation phase and others that will soon see the first roots, Uribe emphasized.

The consultant added that they hope the project can expand to other countries soon and that such initiatives will continue to restore the vegetation lost to deforestation. EFE

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