Tackling environment problems by scoring goals? A young Kenyan has a great idea!

How would you like to be a footballer and an environmentalist at the same time? It’s easy, you just need to score goals and plant trees every time you do it. This excellent idea came from a young Kenyan amateur footballer, and he wants everybody to participate. And why not? If you consider that global warming is more than visible throughout the planet, and that deforestation is one of the reasons for it, the idea is great. Statistics also show that Kenya’s forest cover now stands at nearly 9%, compared to only 6% in 2018, but the problem still remains, considering that 70% of Kenya’s energy needs come from fuelwood.

Lesein Mutunkei started a great idea: he plants not one, but 11 trees every time he scores, as one tree represents one of his teammates in a team. He’s tackling the nation’s daily loss of an estimated 50 football pitches worth of forest area.

“Football is a universal game and climate change is a universal problem. It has the power to connect, engage, educate and inspire my generation to create a safer and greener future” Mutunkei said.

In 2018, the boy started the Trees4Goals campaign in order to mobilize every young football in the region to plant trees when they score a goal, and over a period of time, he realized he wanted a global action, which means FIFA. The football’s governing body would be a perfect way to reach millions around the world, global stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo included. He has so far sent emails and social media messages to FIFA and they are yet to reply, but for example Arsenal football club sent him an autographed jersey when they learned about him and his efforts. In a recent email to CNN regarding Mutunkei, a FIFA representative commented:

“This and other similar projects led by young people and climate defenders around the world are not only commendable, but also necessary”.

Young Mutunkei stated Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai as the inspiration for his efforts.

“At the age of 12, I learned about deforestation and climate change. I realized that if I didn’t do anything about it I would lose the things that I love to do.I took inspiration from Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai, after I listened to her story of a hummingbird. The story talks about a forest on fire, and while all of the animals are running away panicking, a little hummingbird decides to do something about it. The hummingbird, which is this very tiny bird, goes to the lake and picks up a droplet of water, and just does that over and over again. The other animals, like the elephants or the monkeys could have had a bigger impact, but the hummingbird was still doing its best. I decided that as little as I may feel, I should still do something” explained Mutunkei in a previous interview last year.