Skier Aims To Fund Planting of 100,000 Trees By Climbing 100,000 Metres on Skis

A professional skier based in New-Zealand, Pete Oswald, is funding the reforestation of by skiing uphill.

Pete Oswald’s ‘Ski For Trees’ initiative has already proved so successful that it has funded the planting of nearly 50,000 trees in Madagascar, and Pete hopes to reach 100,000 trees by the time the snow has gone.

The initiative seeks donations for every metre Pete skis uphill, so far that total has passed 26,000 vertical metres climbed, mostly at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables ski areas, and enough money donated to plant more than 48,000 trees so far.

“I’ve set it up to draw attention to how little money it costs to put a lot of trees in the ground in a place where it’s needed more than almost anywhere else in the world,” Oswald told local media in New Zealand.

He visited Madagascar with his wife in 2017 and learned that 90% of the forest has gone and that a third of African tropical plants currently risk extinction.  He found he could help impoverished locals and the climate by raising money, with ten trees planted for every one New Zealand dollar donated. The initiative has also funded almost 500 ‘work days’ in Madagascar so far.