German-born Christian Kroll travelled around the world to learn about the importance of trees for the planet’s survival before launching Ecosia-the pioneering search engine that plants a tree every time you use it.
Ecosia uses ad revenue to plant trees due to the threat of deforestation and has so far planted over 18 million trees around the world, in countries including Brazil, Peru, Madagascar, Indonesia, and Tanzania.
Now the team behind it have set an ambitious target – to plant a billion trees before 2020.
Founder and CEO Christian, from Wittenberg, was disappointed to learn that most people saw profit as the only valid object for a business and so set about his travels, hoping to make a better impact.
In 2009, he launched the environmental search engine, based in Berlin, with the motto that ‘diversity, justice, and equality are the key to solving the world’s most pressing problems’.
The social enterprise hopes that the trees they plant have the power to make the world a better place for everyone in it.
Not only does it work to regrow trees suffering from deforestation, it also helps communities at a local level, by enlisting their help.
In Brazil, Ecosia works with Pacto, a group of more than 300 tree-planting projects with the goal of reforesting the Atlantic Rainforest.
In Peru they work with another tree-planting enterprise called Progresso, and another organisation in the south which looks at carbon emissions called Pur Projet
Ecosia is now taking their movement to Uganda, to finance the planting of 250,000 trees, regrowing 500 hectares of land, which will restore chimpanzee habitats.
They will also pair up with the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots programme to help local children learn about nature protection, values of forests for people, animals and the environment.
Tree Planting Officer Pieter van Midwoud said: ‘I met Jane Goodall to discuss our partnership in Uganda and exchange ideas about reforestation approaches and during this interview, I realized how much our visions for restoring landscapes that support people and nature are aligned. I am very excited about the impact we will have in the Hoima region in Uganda, but also about the learnings, we will bring from this project to others’.
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German-born Christian Kroll travelled around the world to learn about the importance of trees for the planet’s survival before launching Ecosia-the pioneering search engine that plants a tree every time you use it.
Ecosia uses ad revenue to plant trees due to the threat of deforestation and has so far planted over 18 million trees around the world, in countries including Brazil, Peru, Madagascar, Indonesia, and Tanzania.
Now the team behind it have set an ambitious target – to plant a billion trees before 2020.
Founder and CEO Christian, from Wittenberg, was disappointed to learn that most people saw profit as the only valid object for a business and so set about his travels, hoping to make a better impact.
In 2009, he launched the environmental search engine, based in Berlin, with the motto that ‘diversity, justice, and equality are the key to solving the world’s most pressing problems’.
The social enterprise hopes that the trees they plant have the power to make the world a better place for everyone in it.
Not only does it work to regrow trees suffering from deforestation, it also helps communities at a local level, by enlisting their help.
In Brazil, Ecosia works with Pacto, a group of more than 300 tree-planting projects with the goal of reforesting the Atlantic Rainforest.
In Peru they work with another tree-planting enterprise called Progresso, and another organisation in the south which looks at carbon emissions called Pur Projet
Ecosia is now taking their movement to Uganda, to finance the planting of 250,000 trees, regrowing 500 hectares of land, which will restore chimpanzee habitats.
They will also pair up with the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots programme to help local children learn about nature protection, values of forests for people, animals and the environment.
Tree Planting Officer Pieter van Midwoud said: ‘I met Jane Goodall to discuss our partnership in Uganda and exchange ideas about reforestation approaches and during this interview, I realized how much our visions for restoring landscapes that support people and nature are aligned. I am very excited about the impact we will have in the Hoima region in Uganda, but also about the learnings, we will bring from this project to others’.
MORE: Why ‘Bags for Life’ could actually be terrible for the environment
MORE: Nasa reveals the truth behind ‘angel’ phenomenon that causes three suns to appear in the sky
