蜜芽传媒

When he was 12 years old, Lesein Mutunkei read an article about deforestation in Kenya. He says he was appalled to learn that in his home country, trees from an area the size of 136 football pitches would be chopped down every day - a vivid picture for the football-loving youngster.

But rather than feeling helpless, he was encouraged to start a project by a story told by Wangari Maathai, the environmental activist and Nobel laureate. In it, a hummingbird attempts to put out a forest fire one tiny drop of water at a time, and in doing so inspires the larger animals to help.

Lesein's project - Trees for Goals - calls on teams to plant 11 trees (one per player) every time they score - an idea that's spread.

Now aged 17, he's been nominated for the Swedish environmental award the Children's Climate Prize.

"I decided to involve the entire team because I realised I can't walk this journey alone. Doing it as a collective with the team support makes it much easier. And it just makes me more determined to try to score that goal as I know where it's going."

(Photo: Lesein and his team plant a tree. Credit: Kanyiri Wahito)

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