"Tree by Tree" – that was NIKIN's motto right from the start. And now, almost three and a half years later, a few trees planted have already grown into half a million. Thanks in large part to your help, we've reached another incredible milestone!
A single tree planted won't change the world overnight. But planting half a million trees over a period of more than three and a half years makes a significant difference. And that's exactly what we've achieved now. We've broken the half-million mark, and we're proud to have made the world a little greener by planting so many trees. But we're not stopping anytime soon—quite the opposite. We're already aiming for the million mark!
The 500,000th tree planted in Lenzburg
We've reached a milestone by planting 500,000 trees, so we want to give this event and the 500,000th tree special significance. For this reason, we ceremoniously planted a tree at our home in Lenzburg to commemorate this achievement and, above all, our mission: We want to make our planet greener, tree by tree. The tree is a Norway maple, which we duly planted at Markus-Roth-Platz in Lenz together with the city of Lenzburg.
How can you imagine half a million trees?
Half a million trees – that's a dimension that's hard to imagine. To put that in perspective, imagine the following: There are approximately 535 million trees in the whole of Switzerland. If we were to plant all of these 500,000 trees in Switzerland, that would represent approximately 0.1% of the total number of trees. A small number? That's deceptive, because half a million trees are equivalent to more than 16,000 football fields. And when you consider that an area seven times the size of Switzerland is destroyed every year, every tree planted makes a difference. The important thing, however, is to know where and how trees need to be planted. Because only a small proportion of the trees we plant grow in Switzerland. The majority were planted where they were urgently needed.
Where are our trees planted?
Planting trees indiscriminately is neither sensible nor sustainable. It's better to leave that to our foresters or, like us, to an organization committed to reforestation. Knowing that there are places in the world that urgently need reforestation, NIKIN has relied on the non-profit organization OneTreePlanted since its inception. They decide where in the world trees are most urgently needed – whether that's Australia after the forest fires, South America, or Africa. For example, they have planted over 5.7 million trees worldwide since 2015. To get a first-hand look at OneTreePlanted's work, NIKIN visited Nicholas Hänny and Robin Gnehm in Canada and the USA in 2018 and 2019 and planted trees with them .
Why trees are so important
Trees and their functions are vital for humans and animals alike, and they are actually small – or sometimes very large – masterpieces of nature. One of their most important tasks is to clean the air. For example, they remove the greenhouse gas CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen. As a “green lung,” a single tree can absorb an average of up to 5 kilograms of air pollutants a year and simultaneously produce 130 kilograms of oxygen. An impressive achievement for a single tree. The impact that entire forests can have becomes particularly evident during natural disasters, as forests literally stand in the way of avalanches, rockfalls, and landslides, thereby preventing major damage. The forest floor also filters and stores rainwater, which plays an important role in providing drinking water.
Apart from that, the forest provides a home for numerous animals and plants, serving as a source of food and shelter for everything from insects and spiders to birds and mammals. For us humans, the forest provides a place of relaxation where we can relieve stress and unwind. Trees also provide us with protection from the sun in summer – a service that is provided to us free of charge.
Switzerland as a land of trees
Unwinding in the forest is especially easy in Switzerland, as one-third of the country is covered by forest. Everywhere offers a place and the opportunity to literally put down roots. Spruces, firs, and beeches are the most common trees in Switzerland. And while trees here live to an average age of 100 years, the record is held by a yew tree, which has lived for an impressive 1,500 years. The tallest tree in Switzerland, a Douglas fir, stands in Madiswil, Bern, and is around 61 meters tall. Compared to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it would barely reach above the first floor.
If the Swiss forest were divided equally among the country's population, each resident would be responsible for approximately 75 trees. And suddenly, the relationship with our forests feels a bit more intimate, especially since you can visit, name, or hug your own trees. The respect and gratitude we should show our trees would likely also be greater. This makes it all the more important to protect and appreciate nature and our trees. After all, cutting down a tree takes only a fraction of the time it takes for a tree to regain its majestic size.
You can help plant trees so we can reach the million mark soon!
