ERGO’s initiative to plant trees in Lithuania is gaining momentum: half a thousand teams have already joined – AINA
For the third time, the ERGO steps challenge does not slow down and has set itself the goal of making the country even greener in a unique way. Teams joining the challenge collect steps through the #walk15 app and thus grow virtual trees, which later turn into real trees. Due to the great involvement of people, 35 thousand trees were planted last year alone. trees, and this year it is planned to exceed this number.
There are more than half a thousand teams at the starting line
The steps challenge officially starts on January 17th, and by the time it started, more than 500 teams had already responded to the public steps challenge on the free mobile walking app “#walk15”. The initiative will last for almost three months, then there will be more teams, there is no doubt about the initiator of one initiative, the head of the event insurance company ERGO in Lithuania, Tadas Dovbyšas.
“We’re seeing an increase in the popularity of step challenges, especially when the steps collected are for some noble cause. That such initiatives are necessary for people is shown by a survey conducted by ERGO last year, when 9 out of 10 respondents spoke in favor of the necessity of such a project for Lithuania, and more than a third, assessing the challenge, assigned 10 points”, says T. Dovbyšas.
This step challenge invites people to form teams of family, friends, businesses or school, which are easy to register on the #walk15 app. And you can join an already connected team by entering its name in the search box of the program. Up to ten people can register for one team. In the challenge, the steps collected by the participants are converted into a line of numbers, which the organizers of the challenge – the insurance company ERGO, the State Forest Office and the team of the program “#walk15” – committed to plant in the designated areas of Lithuania.
“This time we set out to reach 1.8 billion. the purpose of the steps. Although this number seems considerable, it has already been exceeded in previous years, and I have no doubt that it will be reached this year as well. It will be easier to do this, because this step collecting initiative that promotes health and love for the environment will take place until April 4th. In the end, all this is over about 40 thousand. trees, or in other words, two groves”, – Vlada Musvydaitė-Vilčiauskė, one of the initiators and partners of the challenge, creator of the “#walk15” app, talks about the goals.
Forest – and instead of garages
The goals of the “ERGO challenge: plant Lithuania!” initiative are also reflected in the strategy of the insurance company. The company is committed to taking care of Lithuania’s forests and achieving the goal of 12 percent by 2025. reduce carbon dioxide per employee. to achieve the goal, the company took various actions, one of which is tree planting. The first tree planting took place in 2021 when ERGO was celebrating its 30th anniversary – then 5,000 oaks and other trees were planted in Vilnius, in the Verkii and Pavilnii regional park. It is also important that a beautiful forest has grown in place of old garages, contributing to beautifying the face of the city and increasing biodiversity.
“It is gratifying that a walk in the forest is becoming the main recreation activity for more and more people, and social initiatives are taking place in it. The groves planted by this step challenge will also grow significantly in just a few years and delight locals and visitors alike. Their exact location can be found in the “Trails” section of the “#walk15” app by entering “ERGO steps groves” in the search field, says V. Musvydaitė-Vilčiauskė.
Last year, more than 600 communities joined the “ERGO challenge: let’s plant Lithuania!” initiative, uniting 5 thousand. people. They went a distance equal to 40 trips around the globe and raised 35 thousand. pines, firs and birches in Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Kaunas regions. In total, the virtual steps turned into forest areas of more than 11 hectares in size. Some of the trees also allowed to preserve the unique nature of the Curonian Spit – the common pines that had grown earlier in Smiltyne, the mountain pines that were much overripe and posed a greater risk of fires.
“The experience of previous years shows that people care about their living environment, they feel favor with nature. We should be happy that last year not only the goal was set, but more than many people also contributed to the planting of trees. This was done not only by foresters and ERGO employees-volunteers, but also by local residents, schoolchildren and people who came from elsewhere – they counted almost a thousand in total. Every year, there are more and more people who want to help one of the most meaningful jobs of foresters, so we hope that this initiative will continue to be popular, and our environment will become more and more beautiful”, hopes the head of ERGO.