The EuroHockey Forest has now funded the planting of over 7,500 trees with over 430 tonnes of CO2 avoided as part of the ongoing project.

Officially launched in August, EuroHockey partnered with Ecologi, a company whose aim is to “inspire and empower business to accelerate global climate action”. 

Through Ecologi’s initiatives, over 66.4 millions trees have been funded and 2.7 million tonnes of verified CO2e have been avoided.  

EuroHockey has already played a part in that success. For the past two years, a portion of each transaction between EuroHockey and accredited partners has been donated and put to use to plant a tree in the EuroHockey Family Forest, helping make for a happier, greener planet. 

** To see more about the EuroHockey Forest, click here: https://ecologi.com/thehockeyforest

Each month, the organisation purchases trees to be planted to offset staff and executive board travel. From September, each participant that goes through the EuroHockey Institute programmes each year will have a tree planted too. 

During this time, the EuroHockey Forest has seen 7,551 trees and 39 projects funded, combining to see 430 tonnes of CO2 avoided since it was setup. 

And this total will receive an additional boost of over 1,000 trees this month with EuroHockey agreeing to match the incredible efforts of the German women’s team (Die Danas) earlier this year at the EuroHockey Championships.

The EuroHockey project was originally inspired by Die Danas who built a hockey forest in South Africa to offset the carbon footprint created by the demands of the sport’s growing schedule. 

With the support of their fellow nations in Mönchengladbach, they helped raise enough to augment this forest with 1,040 more trees. 

The Danas initiative saw them earn a  “Golden Ribbon of Sport” award the Association of German Sports Journalists which honours deserving athletes and personalities who have made outstanding contributions through their social commitment with a sporting background.

Lorenz says of the honour: “We DANAS started thinking about our CO2 emissions some time ago. We travel the world for competitions at the highest level. 

“We can rarely choose the venues. In order to counteract our above-average travel behaviour, we created the ‘DANAS Hockey Forest’.”

Team mate Viktoria Huse adds: “We are very happy about the ‘ Golden Ribbon’ and feel very honoured. At the same time, we see this award as a great incentive to continue pursuing and expanding our ‘ Hockey Forest’ project.”

The EuroHockey and Danas forest tie in with the FIH’s Sustainability Strategy for Hockey launched last year, a collective plan for the global hockey community to focus our efforts and energy on projects that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

The strategy covers all of the 3 major aspects of Sustainability according to the UN and IOC – People, Planet and Prosperity – that will build a healthy long term future for the sport. 

** To visit the EuroHockey Forest and to find out more about how it works, go to: https://ecologi.com/thehockeyforest