Environmentally conscious former Arsenal star has helped plant 58,617 trees in the Amazon

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FT Desk

Hector Bellerin has never been shy about expressing his views, whether they be football-related or political.

Undoubtedly an environmentally conscious individual, the Spaniard has helped with numerous causes related to the environment and climate change over the years and one in particular has helped to plant 58,617 trees in the Amazon rainforest.

In 2020, during Covid, Bellerin vowed to plant 3,000 trees for every Arsenal victory between his announcement and the end of the season. The Gunners won seven games and he made good on his promise, donating so that 21,000 trees could be planted around Brazil’s Araguaia River.

However, the fact that he raised awareness for such a cause led to nearly 60,000 trees being planted thanks to the One Tree Planted Initiative in partnership with the Black Jaguar Foundation.

“I try everything I can every day to make sure I live my best life for the planet and in the process, given the platform I have, I try to make others conscious of this as well," said Bellerin in a One Tree Planted press release.

Brazil’s Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor is a large conservation and ecological restoration initiative centred around the Araguaia River in Brazil. It stretches for roughly 2,800–3,000 kilometres and connects areas of the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado, Brazil’s tropical savanna.

The corridor covers a huge landscape across several Brazilian states and is designed to protect and reconnect important natural habitats.

Formerly of Arsenal, Bellerin returned to Spain with Real Betis in 2023 and is a leading ambassador for Forever Green, the club's sustainability program, as the Spanish side targets carbon neutrality by 2040.

“Loads of clubs around the world now are wanting to peek into what we’re doing and promote the same stuff,” Bellerin told National Geographic in 2025.

Since 2020, the right-back has been a shareholder at National League side Forest Green Rovers, described by FIFA

as “the world’s greenest football club”.

“Forest Green Rovers prove to clubs who say ‘they don’t have resources to be sustainable’ - that it is possible. With the new stadium, being carbon neutral and vegan the club is doing some mind-blowing work," Bellerin said six years ago.

“People have a universal love of football, so there’s no better industry to promote sustainability - and what we can do as football supporters to be more environmentally conscious.”