Instead of focusing on fear (using arguments like climate change, loss of nature, extinction of animals, etc.), Pieter Hoff chose to develop the Green Musketeer concept, based on the idea ‘planting trees’ is synonymous to ‘having fun’. He inspired a Dutch philanthropist to finance a pilot and received 325KEuros for it.

40 Schools in the poorest part if Ecuador (country with 57% of population below the poverty line) participated in a competition of planting trees, where as participating schools received computers – value is a half year salary in Ecuador - for their participation. From each school the 5 children with the 5 highest trees after a year, the 5 schools with the 5 highest total length of the trees and the 5 children of all the schools with the 5 highest trees received an extra computer.

We opened the project bringing all the children together to the Universidad de Santa Helena and made a big party event of it, with big toys, life music, dancing, etc. All based on the well known Kingsday festivities in The Netherlands. Here we inspired the children that planting trees means having fun

Based on the love children have for their dogs, or cats, or dolls, which they always give a name, every child was obliged to give their tree a name. What was expected – the name giving will create an enormous love and wish to take care for - happened: all children involved their parents (planting, making fences, bringing used cooking water to their tree, etc.). The children taught their parents well. We had a 100% survival result at all schools, not one tree died! And more important: until now all these trees are protected by the children who started to love them. Nobody will ever cut these trees

On the final day – where the jury announced the results –we had all 3,000 children together – we knighted all the children to Green Musketeers - and made of this day again an even bigger party day. We had ministers, mayors, directors of the schools, and so on. We gladly offer you documents, photos and viseos of all the activities and festivities.