Abubakar Tahiru is currently studying for a master’s degree in Forestry at Auburn University in the US state of Alabama. In his youth, in the countryside of his home country Ghana, he was completely obsessed with everything that had to do with trees and nature conservation. And so the student and environmental activist recently headed to the Tuskegee National Forest in Alabama to express his love for nature in a special way.
The tree-hugging record attempt requires a participant to wrap both arms around each tree in a tight embrace, without causing any damage to the trees. No tree was allowed to be hugged more than once, forcing Tahiru to move quickly in the forest between each hug. He traveled from tree to tree for an hour.
The student was fasting for Ramadan during his record attempt, which didn’t make it any easier. “Not being able to drink water during the entire attempt was an extra challenge, especially due to the physical exertion required,” the twenty-something told reporters after his stunt. Guinness World Records. On the other hand, the net also turned out to be useful. “Because there was no need to pause for water breaks, I was able to continue the record attempt uninterrupted from start to finish.”
In the end, with an average of 19 trees per minute, Tahiru easily surpassed the minimum requirement of 700 trees to set the record. “It feels really good,” he says. “It is a meaningful gesture to highlight the crucial role of trees in our ecosystem and the urgency of environmental conservation.”
