The first innovative project for offsetting CO2 emissions by planting trees titled "CO2PENSATING By Planting" was presented in Zagreb on Friday.

This is the first such programme in Croatia, but also in the entire region, and it is intended for companies, institutions and all other interested parties that want to compensate for their CO2 emission and neutralise their carbon footprint, becoming a positive example of care for the environment and the community.

Through the project, areas in Croatia already destroyed by climate change will be reforested. The first forestation campaign will take place this Saturday in Demerje, a settlement in Zagreb where the project was presented, and instead of conifers which have dried out, oak seedling will be planted there.

“We realised that, as scouts, experts from the Hrvatske Sume forest management company and creatives from the Hearth agency, we can do more together and bring awareness of the importance of forests, as well as of the need to change harmful behaviour and impact on nature, to companies and citizens,” said the business director of the Scout and Guide Association of Croatia, Dan Spicer, the main coordinator of the project.

The programme Sumoborci (Forest Fighters) is an educational part of the campaign CO2MPENSATING By Planting, and all participants, in addition to taking part in interesting workshops, will be able to plant their seedlings through forestation campaigns and thus offset part of their CO2 emission from their carbon footprint.

This year already, it is planned to involve over 1,000 volunteers in the forestation campaign and to continue with the campaigns in the coming years, with even greater intensity and by involving many other organisations and volunteers all over Croatia.

The new ecology project CO2MPENSATING By Planting (www.compensatingbyplanting.com) is organised by the Scout and Guide Association of Croatia, the Hrvatske Sume forest management company and the Hearth company as an innovative response to the consequences of climate change.