But for the Arsenal’s 25-year-old defense, a few hours of paint a day wasn’t enough to satisfy him, not enough to avoid boredom.”Mental paintings are as vital as physical paintings,” he tells me.”I want other, projects to fill the void that arises when I don’t play football.”Over time, Belleron’s attention focused on one of his other main interests: the environment.
The Spaniard has expressed in the past his preference to use his influence to draw attention to the disorders of deforestation and climate change, and this seemed the ideal time to act. The studies took him to One Tree Planted, a nonprofit that works on reforestation projects around the world, and after contacting us, a plan was developed.For every Arsenal victory in June and July, Belleron has committed to funding the planting of 3,000 trees.
The initial purpose was to raise enough cash to fund 30,000 trees.But with seven wins that time and donations from Arsenal enthusiasts and rivals, the crusade, however, has raised enough cash to fund the 58,617 plantation.The trees will be placed along the banks of the river.Río Araguaia, in central Brazil, which crosses the eastern component of the Amazon biome and the Cerrado Savanna dry forest of similar importance, and will be planted in collaboration with the Black Jaguar Foundation and local communities.
According to Matt Hill, the founder of One Tree Planted, the assignment aims to eventually plant 1 million hectares of forest along the Araguaia, forming a “biodiversity corridor” that connects the two critical ecosystems.”Planting trees here will also assistance soil quality, lessen erosion, shield watersheds, sequester carbon, recover plant and wildlife, aid local populations and aid critical ecological processes,” he says.
However, as has been widely announced over the past 12 months, safeguarding Brazil’s forests is a difficult struggle. The Brazilian government, the leadership of right-wing nationalist President Jair Bolsonaro and his environment minister, Ricardo Salles, has been accused of recklessly encouraging deforestation.illegal mining and endangering indigenous peoples.
The Brazilian National Institute of Space Research (INPE) published figures at the end of this month that suggest that deforestation jumped 28% between August 2019 and July 2020 to the era of August 2018 to July 2019, when there had already been a 34% jump in the payment of Ibama, the government firm of Brazil guilty of tracking and preventing illegal deforestation , has noticed a budget cut of 14.8% until 2020 and, according to BBC Brazil, can see additional relief from 20% to 20% until 2021.
“It’s pretty obvious that these other people aren’t helping to move toward what we want today,” Belleron says when asked about Bolsonaro and Salles.”One of the [main problems] is the deforestation of the Amazon and the laxity of its policies..”
Belleron recalls the video of a brazilian federal government sideboard assembly that leaked in May, which Salles called the coronavirus pandemic an “opportunity” to drive the easing of environmental regulations, with the outbreak of media aimed at the effects of the disease.
“It is surprising that we continue to place others in such denial, [those] who do not perceive how vital [the Amazon] is to each and every human being,” Belleron continues.”It is literally devastating that the [Bolsonaro] user who is destined to move this country forward is doing a lot of damage in a position like amazon.”
Given this widespread destruction, it is moderate to ask what difference an assignment like Belleron’s support will make.But One Tree Planted’s founder, Hill, is adamant in his response.[58,617] trees,” he says, “you’ll have to walk for days to get out of them.”
“To some extent, we will have to settle for that there will be some shape of destruction somewhere, yet we can counter this with creation, with individual and collective action, with practical motivation to get involved.
Belleron is known to be vegan and tries to generate its own carbon emissions as much as possible.However, with endless flights for away matches and the intake of herbal resources on which the game is based to generate revenue, high-level football is an incredibly polluting activity.Belleron acknowledges the incongruity between her career and her beliefs, referring to it as a “dilemma” faced by “many other people [in other industries] who seek to live a conscious life and do their best for their mark.”
“At the moment,” he says, “there are no trangame resources or [links] needed to have a carbon-neutral lifestyle while playing [at the highest level].”But it reiterates its preference for less polluting football that will emerge in the coming years, which, given the popularity of the game, would send “a great message to the rest of society”.Praise the paintings made through Forest Green Rovers, which has become the world’s first rated carbon neutral club in the world in 2018, and the steps being taken through Arsenal to reduce greenhouse fuel emissions and plastic waste.
Belleron also says that without football, he would not have the platform from which his message can locate so many open ears.”This industry has given me the say to succeed in other people and take out projects like this: being a plant about 60,000 trees.If I wasn’t a footballer in such a smart club, maybe those campaigns would get lost.”
Hill said that component of the explanation of why he was so interested in teaming up with Bellerin; “He does not hesitate to defend what he believes.It’s hard because young people appreciate it. When they see that their hero cares about creating a long healthy path for them, they realize that the environment is something we can all take care of.”of.
Belleron laughs as he recalls the great Mick entering the locker room: “After a win, other people would say, ‘Come on, tonight we’re going to plant trees.’I find it funny,” he says, but reports that the reception among his teammates is largely positive.
When asked which Arsenal player showed the utmost interest, he highlighted Bukayo Saka.The 18-year-old asked him what he thought behind the assignment and made a donation to help them achieve the investment goal.”It was given to other people talking, “Adds Bellerin.It created a wonderful debate and it was wise for some of them to seek to get involved.”
The Spaniard has been criticized on social media for his participation in projects outside football, but he shows little respect for such comments: “I don’t see how something like this can affect my performance,” he says.For me, having outdoor projects, whether with One Tree Planted, creatively or businessfully, is all that makes me grow as a user and recharges me to be bigger on the field.”
I write about a variety of topics, but I specialize in English, European and South American football.For Forbes, I write basically about two groups from my hometown, Tottenham.
I write about a variety of topics, but I specialize in English, European and South American football.For Forbes, I write basically about two groups from my hometown, Tottenham and Arsenal.Elsewhere, I have had reports, interviews and articles published in English and Portuguese through The Guardian, UOL Esporte, The Blizzard, GiveMeSport, Planet Football and Trivela.I am the founding editor of Yellow and Green Football, an online website committed to Brazilian football.