Dr. Jane Goodall and Rebel Wilson bathe together—inside a forest—as they discuss the benefits of forest bathing and planting trees for a new HP campaign supporting Arbor Day and the Jane Goodall Institute.
It’s been 40 years since the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture created the term shinrin-yoku, “forest bathing” or “absorbing the forest atmosphere.” But the practice is as old as time. Primatologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall spent years doing just this while taking up residency in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park where she rose to fame for her research on chimpanzee behavior beginning in 1960. Now, Goodall has teamed up with actor, producer, and writer Rebel Wilson to chat about the benefits in honor of Arbor Day’s 150th anniversary.
In a new HP-sponsored campaign for Arbor Day, “Plant a Tree With HP,” Wilson and Goodall take to the forest to chat about Goodall’s partnership with HP and the Arbor Day Foundation. The partnership builds on The Jane Goodall Institute’s ambitious initiative to plant one trillion trees by 2030.
Specifically, JGI’s Jane’s Green Hope initiative invests in and focuses on nature-based solutions like reforestation in an effort to address the intersection of threats to ecosystems, humans, and wildlife. The new campaign, which runs through June 30th, is aiming to planting one million trees this year.
“Private companies have a critical responsibility to use their resources and reach to ensure we’re doing everything possible to restore, regenerate and protect global forests,” Goodall said in a statement. “By working with corporations like HP, Jane’s Green Hope is able to leverage those resources to positively impact the lives of people, other animals, and the environment we share.”
The program will focus on native and community led tree planting efforts that support the 1 Trillion Trees Challenge. The campaign doesn’t just plant the trees, but follows strict protocols to ensure survival. Trees are selected based on the region’s ecology as well as their benefits to local communities.
In a video accompanying the campaign, Goodall, now 88, and Wilson, are seated in a forest to talk about the benefits of forest bathing, making music with gibbons, and why planting trees and taking climate action now is so important.
“To plant a tree with such a legend like Dr. Jane Goodall and a company as environmentally conscious as HP, I mean, what an opportunity,” Wilson said. “I just hope people realize the importance of climate change, and the critical role forests play in combatting it. This initiative will help by not just planting trees but also ensuring proper forest management in places like the US, Brazil, and Madagascar, where they’ll make the most positive impact.”
Planting trees
HP said the campaign builds on its commitment to forest conservation as part of its comprehensive climate action strategy. It was one of the first in the tech industry to pledge to combat deforestation beyond its own supply chain. The tech and office supply company was one of the first to achieve zero-deforestation for its paper products and paper-based packaging.
“The Plant a Tree with HP campaign differs from others in that the work here doesn’t just stop with simply planting the tree,” said James McCall, Chief Sustainability Officer at HP.
“We recognize that our role as a corporation is imperative so we have committed that every page printed through an HP printer will be forest positive. This program gives us the opportunity to bring our customers along on that journey so we can build critical mass, which is essential in addressing the extremely complex challenges we’re facing as a planet.”
Goodall and Wilson aren’t the only celebs to tout the benefits of planting trees. On Earth Day, actor and co-founder of clean beauty brand The Outset, Scarlett Johansson, spent the day planting trees in New York City. The event was part of The Outset’s recent commitment to plant 25,000 trees in New York as well as in parts of California ravaged by wildfire.
Earlier this month Ethos also announced the completion of its first tree-planting initiative in partnership with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. You can learn more here.
