Ghanaian journalist breaks World Record for longest tree hug

A 23-year-old journalist from Kumasi, Abdul Hakim Awal, has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest time spent hugging a tree. He hugged a tree for 24 hours and 21 minutes outside the Kumasi Cultural Centre.

Awal took on this challenge to raise awareness about the importance of nature conservation in Ghana. His effort broke the previous record of 16 hours, held by Ugandan environmental activist Faith Patricia Ariokot.

As part of his commitment, Awal promised to plant a tree for every minute he spent hugging the tree. After completing the 24-hour challenge, he planted 1,461 trees.

According to the rules, Awal could not take any breaks and had to stay standing with his arms around the tree for the entire time. His achievement has now been recognized as the “Longest Marathon Hugging a Tree.”

Awal is not the first Ghanaian to set a tree-hugging world record this year, following in the footsteps of Abubakar Tahiru, a forestry student based in the US, who set a record for hugging the most trees in one hour with a total of 1,123.