Triglav Glacier mission ends with 16,000 trees

Pokljuka – A project as part of which a fraction of a glacier from Slovenia travelled to the Beijing Winter Olympics has ended as 16,000 trees have been planted in Slovenia this year to offset the CO2 emissions generated during the 13,000-kilometre journey from Mojstrana in the Julian Alps to the Chinese capital for the 2022 Olympics.

A total of 1,450 various trees were planted in the Pokljuka forests in the north-west on Monday in a collaboration between the SiDG state forest company, the Slovenian Olympic Committee, brewer Pivovarna Laško and volunteers to wrap up the Mission: Triglav Glacier to Beijing project.

The other 14,550 trees were planted at another three locations in different parts of the country earlier this year – in Kočevska Reka, Trnovski Gozd and Koprivna.

In Koprivna, beech, larch, sycamore maple, rowan and cherry were planted in five circles to form the Olympic rings in spring as each of these tree species has a different colour.

Mission: Triglav Glacier to Beijing aimed at drawing attention to global warming and its devastating effects on the environment and the very existence of winter sports.

As part of it, a piece of ice from the Triglav Glacier travelled more than 13,000 kilometres from Mojstrana to Russia by car and then by plane to Beijing.

The partners in the project had pledged to plant one tree for each kilometre to more than make up for the emissions generated during the journey.

The ambitious target has been exceeded, SiDG said on Monday, as the original plan was to plant 13,000 seedlings.

The planting of the “Olympic forest” was carried out on the basis of a decision of the Slovenian Forest Service.

SiDG noted that planting different tree species created forests that will be more resilient to climate change and bark beetles.

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