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. The organization will use the money to plant vegetation based on each goal their team scores.
“We are replanting rainforest areas the size of football fields through sports,” they say.
“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. They hope that “European fever” will drive football fans to make a greater impact with their contributions.
Football for Forests, 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. As such, it has successfully reforested the Yurumi Natural Reserve in the Meta department. The Amazonía Emprende Forest School in Florencia, the capital of Caquetá in the south is also a success story.
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 they hope the project can expand to other countries. Such initiatives will continue to restore the vegetation lost to deforestation. EFE
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