Youth movement restores forests across 76 nations
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Nine-year-old Felix Finkbeiner of Germany began a global forest restoration movement after learning about Wangari Maathai’s tree-planting work in Africa.
Inspired by Maathai, Finkbeiner initially proposed each country plant one million trees, and later broadened that goal to one trillion trees worldwide. Today, Plant-for-the-Planet operates in 76 countries and has trained over 104,800 Climate Justice Ambassadors to address the climate crisis through tree planting and community organizing.
The movement emphasizes giving young people genuine leadership roles in restoration efforts, rather than simply asking them to volunteer. Ambassadors learn climate science and then apply it locally, organizing events and speaking publicly. Plant-for-the-Planet also supports restoration projects worldwide through its free technology platform, Forest Cloud, which helps organizations fund, manage, and monitor their work. Restoration projects are underway in Mexico, Ghana, and Spain, each focusing on different ecological challenges.
In Mexico, the group is working to protect Mayan rainforest and create a jaguar wildlife corridor. In Ghana, they address land degradation and poverty. In Spain, they are reviving lost forest landscapes. The organization is also involved in policy advocacy, pushing for forest conservation and deforestation-free supply chains.
