‘I found peace': Activist hopes 48 hours of non-stop tree-hugging will inspire others to love nature
Truphena Muthoni has attempted a new world record with a tree-hugging marathon. The 21-year-old hugged a single tree in a public park in downtown Nairobi, Kenya for almost 48 hours. She is waiting to hear if she has set a new Guinness World Record.
The Kenyan revealed that she wants to set the record to help others understand the link between nature and good mental health.
Tree-hugging has been a protest activity by environmentalists for almost 300 years, and there are now even world championships in the pastime.
The Kenyan tree-hugging record was to raise awareness of mental health
While most young adults might have been hitting Nairobi's bars and clubs on a Friday night, Muthoni started a world record attempt under the night skies.
Muthoni began hugging the tree at 6.10pm and managed to hold the same standing position for 48 hours. She believes she has beaten the previous record by 24 hours.
A crowd of friends and well-wishers were in the park to cheer the young woman on. As the moment approached that Muthoni was about to complete her world record attempt, her supporters counted down the final minute.
Muthoni first began hugging trees to help her with mental health challenges, and says she finds solace and 'peace' in nature.
'I want to encourage people to embrace tree-hugging because it helps boost mental health and allows us to recharge ourselves,' Muthoni told local media.
Tree-hugging is often seen as a meditative practice, with the Japanese practice of 'shinrin yoku' or ' forest bathing ' gaining popularity in the 1980s. There is even scientific backing for the practice: several studies have shown how it can improve mood, with two key 2012 studies demonstrating that hugging a tree improves cognitive function, creativity, overall mental wellbeing, and even blood pressure.
This world-record attempt continues the tree legacy of a great Kenyan environmentalist
Muthoni, who describes herself as a sustainability musician, also highlighted the land conflict between humans and nature as another reason for her endeavour: 'Urban development is destroying natural resources, so I want people to reconnect with nature because it has real healing power.'
Ababu Namwamba, the permanent representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), congratulated Muthoni on X, saying, 'Your historic feat has drawn global attention to the phenomenal power of the youth to be champions of climate action, sustainability, and using nature for mental health and wellness.'
Namwamba went on to say that Muthoni inspired others to 'make the earth better, safer, and more sustainable,' and that she had 'Wangarĩ Maathai spirit'.
Wangarĩ Maathai was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, after founding the 1977 Green Belt Movement, which planted trees across Kenya and focused on women's rights, poverty alleviation, and environmental conservation.
Government agency Kenya Forest Service said that Muthoni was an inspiration, noting that small acts 'can spark healing and hope' and remind us 'to embrace and protect nature every day."
Embarking on a tree-hugging marathon required training
A world record achievement is only verified by Guinness World Records, the 'global authority on all things record-breaking', if there is comprehensive evidence. This includes signed witness statements from independent observers, high-quality video footage, detailed documentation, and official measurements or timekeeping data specific to the record in question.
Local TV and radio stations live-streamed the full 48-hour event to meet these rules, however the Guinness World Records has told Euronews Green that Muthoni's attempt so far 'isn't a confirmed record'.
While the act of tree-hugging is simple and open to anyone, tree-hugging for long periods of time required over five months of physical and mental training, Muthoni revealed. This training included changing eating, sleeping and toilet habits.
The world record attempt required Muthoni to cope with standing upright while battling with mosquitoes and other bugs overnight, then having to cope with scorching heat during the day.
'I have trained myself to stand for long hours, go without food, and even fast for extended periods. Sometimes, I would have just one meal a day. I have also conditioned my body to go without using the toilet for 48 hours. I know it's all in the mind,' she explained.
The regulations allowed a rest window of two hours after 24 hours to avoid sleep deprivation, however Muthoni chose to hug her tree non-stop for the entire 48 hours.
After accomplishing her record, St John Ambulance were on hand to check vitals and confirm that Muthoni remained in good health.
Tree-hugging records are on the rise as a movement blossoms
Tree-hugging world record attempts have been on the increase in recent years.
29-year-old Ugandan activist Faith Patricia Ariokot was the first 'official' holder of the record in February 2024 when she wrapped her arms around a tree trunk for 16 hours and six seconds.
Ariokot told the Guinness World Records that selecting the tree 'felt like picking a bridal dress,' adding that trees are 'the greatest soldiers in the fight against climate change.'
This record was quickly smashed a few months later in May 2024 when Ghanaian Abdul Hakim Awal hugged a tree for 24 hours and 21 minutes, to promote nature conservation, the record that is still held by the Guinness World Records.
In April 2024, a record for hugging the most trees was celebrated when Ghanaian-born Abubakar Tahiru hugged a total of 1,123 trees in Alabama, USA. This averages out to nearly 19 trees every minute.
Tree-hugging has been a long-standing form of protest. The activity was first recorded in 1730 when the Bishnois, a nature-worshipping Indigenous peoples in India, hugged trees to prevent foresters from felling them for Rajasthan's expanding palaces. This laid the roots for the 1970s 'chikpo' (hug) movement in India when local villagers, mainly women, embraced trees to prevent mass deforestation in their region.
Now, there's a Tree-Hugging World Championships, which started in 2020 and takes place in a forest in the Finnish Arctic.
Treehuggers from around the world compete to receive the honour of being named the 'Tree-Hugging World Champion' - with categories including 'speedhugging, dedication, and freestyle'. In the lead up to the main event, some local championships are now being independently organised.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Fighting for their fair share: How to boost economic empowerment for African women
Gender equality remains a challenge across the globe and particularly in Africa. Despite progress, women continue to face persistent barriers on the continent: limited access to education, inequalities in healthcare, difficulties in obtaining financing and underrepresentation in decision-making positions. To help change that, former French Minister Élisabeth Moreno co-founded ADWIN alongside George-Axelle Broussillon Matschinga and Prescillia Avenel Delpha. It's an international network dedicated to the promotion and empowerment of African and Afro-descendant women through training, mentorship, financing, and well-being. Moreno spoke to us in People & Profit.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Euronews
More Than Taste: Reformulating for a Healthier Future
As awareness grows around the importance of balanced diets and healthier lifestyles, actors across society - from policymakers to businesses and consumers - are working together to support positive change. At Suntory Beverage & Food Europe (SBFE), supporting healthier diets isn't a marketing line - it's been a strategic priority for over a decade. Since 2015, we have taken decisive steps to reduce sugar across our core drinks – including beloved brands such as Orangina, Schweppes1, Ribena and Oasis – not because we had to, but because we believe people deserve better choices that still taste great. We've committed to helping consumers make positive choices without compromising on taste, quality, or trust. Reformulating drinks, especially iconic ones, is complex and often costly - but we've embraced the challenge head-on. We've reformulated over 300 drinks and cut added sugar by 30% across our portfolio in the last decade. Today, 60% of our drinks sold are under 5g of sugar/100mL. This isn't just reformulation by spreadsheet. It's a shift that touches every part of our business - from R&D and consumer insight to branding and packaging. And it all starts with one belief: better drinks shouldn't come at the expense of great taste. Our consumer approach is shaped by two Japanese principles: Gemba - going to where real decisions are made - and Seikatsusha - recognising the full complexity of people's lives. We don't just rely on traditional research; we go to the source. This lens helps us innovate drinks that genuinely fit into people's routines, values and expectations. Sugar plays a functional role in taste and texture, and every market has different preferences and regulations. That's why there's no one-size-fits-all solution - and that's exactly the point. Achieving a great taste for sugar reduced products is a bit like a quest for the Holy Grail for every passionate technologist. And even more knowing there is no one size fits all. In France, for example, we gradually reduced the sugar content in our recipes to accustom our consumers palates to less sweet tastes. In 2024, for Oasis Tropical, one of our iconic drinks in France, we launched a recipe with a 15% sugar reduction (v 2023) and a soaring 38% reduction since the original recipe in 2006. This work has been done in 5 stages of sugar reduction moving from 10.7g/100mL of sugar to 6.6/100mL. To support this kind of country-specific reformulation, we've invested in R&D facilities across Europe - including a €2 million lab near Paris and others in Spain and the UK. These centres allow us to fine-tune recipes and flavour profiles with local teams, ensuring consistent progress without compromising what people love. We rely on our strong science and technology capabilities in Japan, home to our innovation centre of excellence, working in close collaboration with our global R&D teams to deliver the local tastes that European consumers love. We also believe in informed choice. That's why we are a keen signatory of the EU Code of Conduct on Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices, one of the first deliverables of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. But we did not stop there, and in fact introduced our own Responsible Code of Marketing and Communications in 2024. It includes clear commitments: we don't directly market to anyone under 16, we ensure nutritional transparency on pack and online, ensuring claims are true, proven and non-misleading. It's how we hold ourselves accountable and make our values visible. In addition, through UNESDA, the European Soft Drinks Association, SBFE has also joined industry peers to commit to reduce average added sugars in European soft drinks, and not to sell or market soft drinks with sugar in schools. Lasting change requires a regulatory environment that encourages innovation, rather than restricting it. With our operations across different European countries, fragmented regulation across countries can be a barrier to business growth and development, undermining the EU single market and also causing confusion for consumers. The Commission's ambition to ensure that Europe remains competitive in food innovation is an important step in the right direction, and should be enabled by a science-based regulatory framework. We support frameworks that offer consistency, incentivise reformulation, and empower consumers through clear, science-based front-of-pack labelling. It's essential that these systems also recognise reformulation progress which is why we advocate for a non-discriminatory algorithm that accounts for reformulation efforts in fat, sugar and salt (FFS). In this reformulation journey, it is essential to have certainty about the safety and efficiency of our ingredients. That is why we actively support the ongoing re-evaluation of the sweeteners used in our drinks. At SBFE, our vision of Growing for Good means making choices that create lasting, positive impact; for people, for the planet, and for the communities we serve. Sugar reduction is just one part of that journey, but it's a powerful one. It reflects our commitment to evolve what our drinks can be, and to support healthier, more sustainable lifestyles. By the end of 2025, we expect to reach a 32% reduction in added sugar - just shy of our original 35% target. But this is not a finish line. By 2030, we aim to reduce total sugars across our portfolio by more than 35%, building on the momentum we've created. We believe that the bigger we grow, the greater our ability - and responsibility - to do good. That's why Growing for Good isn't just a company ambition. It's a mindset. It shapes how we act as a business, and how we grow as individuals: learning new things, trying new things, and constantly striving to be better.
France 24
5 days ago
- France 24
United States: Boulder, Colorado attack suspect posed as gardener
01:42 03/06/2025 Voting has closed in South Korea's snap presidential election 03/06/2025 France probes terror motive after man shoots dead Tunisian neighbour 03/06/2025 War in Ukraine: Istanbul talks fail to make headway towards ceasefire 03/06/2025 South Koreans vote for new president in wake of Yoon's ouster 03/06/2025 Middle East: Gaza rescuers say toll from Israel fire in Rafah rises to 27 03/06/2025 Ivory Coast: Ele festival celebrates lagoon culture and tradition 03/06/2025 Celebrating African talent: 'The Cavemen' champion highlife revival 03/06/2025 Children in Sudan struggling for survival amid health, food crises 03/06/2025 Poland's PM Tusk calls for confidence vote after Nawrocki wins presidency Europe
