Timberland pledges to plant 50 million trees over five years

Outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland has made a pledge to plant 50 million trees over the next five years to encourage consumers to take steps to help the environment.

Since 2001, the brand has planted more than 10 million trees worldwide and the 'Nature needs heroes' campaign aims to go further.

It will feature activity across print, digital, out-of-home, social media and PR, alongside a series of tree-planting and green events.

To reach its tree-planting goal, Timberland will partner a range of organisations, including the Smallholder Farmers Alliance and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Jim Pisani, global brand president at Timberland, said: "Trees and green spaces help improve the quality of our planet, as well as individual well-being. Our commitment to plant trees is a real, measurable way to act upon our belief that a greener future is a better future."

Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, said: "We are thrilled to have Timberland join the Great Green Wall movement – an emerging new world wonder that promises to grow hope for millions of people in the face of the 21st century’s most urgent challenges."

According to research led by Swiss university ETH Zürich, the restoration of trees remains among the most effective strategies for climate-change mitigation. It found a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions that have been pumped into the atmosphere by human activities.