Costa Navarino and Aegean Airlines makes trees come true

With Messinia as a focal point and a common vision to bring together people from around the world in an effort to make our planet greener, Costa Navarino, the new prime sustainable destination in the Mediterranean and Aegean Airlines, a Star Alliance member and Greece’s largest airline, have joined forces to launch Costa Navarino Forest.

This new tree planting eco-initiative is in support of the Billion Tree Campaign, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (unep.org/billiontreecampaign).

Costa Navarino Forest is a tree planting online game where visitors from around the world are invited to join in and plant their own virtual tree at costanavarinoforest.com. Through the game, in an easy-going and entertaining way, the participants learn what it takes for a tree to be planted, grow healthy and strong in the Forest. Costa Navarino and Aegean Airlines will make them come true by turning these virtual trees into real endemic ones in Messinia Greece, aiming to reach a total of 10,000 trees by the end of 2011.

While the online initiative provides the means to try and raise environmental awareness globally, Costa Navarino and Aegean Airlines will be acting locally by planting these trees in Messinia, an unspoiled, yet accessible region in southwest Peloponnese, Greece, which spreads over the roots of mount Taygetos, overlooking the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Valuable partners in this eco-initiative are the local communities and the Forestry Department of Kalamata, Messinia, which will provide the trees to be planted.

Apart from raising awareness on the importance of tree planting for the future of the planet, this virtual game will actively contribute to the overall effort for preserving and regenerating the unique forests of Messinia which constitute an integral part of the pristine and diverse environment of the region, characterised by its natural beauty and rich heritage.

Enter the game and help to make trees come true!

Visit costanavarinoforest.com and register; then invite three friends to help plant a tree sapling, by providing water, soil and fertilizer. When they do, this sapling will be planted temporarily in the nursery garden and then, with a right answer to a question about the local flora and fauna, or the local history and traditions, it will be transplanted to the forest. The Costa Navarino Forest will be its final destination where it will live for hundreds of years! Everyone who joins the game can help their tree grow taller, by asking more people to join, support their tree and discover interesting facts about trees and more information about the region. The 1000 tallest trees of the forest will carry the name of their owner when they get planted on the slopes of mountain Taygetos and the 500 tallest will enter a ballot where five will have the chance to visit the forest, through winning a five to seven day trip to Costa Navarino, including flights provided by Aegean Airlines.