Ant Forest is an app-based game that is sweeping across China. The game rewards users with green energy points for choosing low-carbon activities like taking public transportation or using less plastic.
Once players have earned enough green energy, they can plant a virtual tree in Ant Forest. For every tree planted in the virtual game, a real tree is planted in rural China.
The game is making people think about how their micro choices can be solutions to big problems. According to Ant Forest, 500 million people planted 100 million trees to date.
“Everyone dreams to become a hero, which is hard to realize in real life. What Ant Forest has provided is a convenient way for people to make a change by doing small things.” ~ Di Xu, Head of Social Good, Ant Financial
Gamified Social Good
Two aspects for the program’s stunning progress :
- its convenience, and
- the fact that it’s something that people are genuinely concerned about.
“The success is not because it’s entertaining and interactive, but because it’s part of the public interest. We believe human nature is good. We lowered the threshold and cost to allow people to do good things. Users like to do small things every day to help protect the environment,” Xu told CGTN.
As reported by China Global Television Network (CGTN):
Forest at Fingertips
Incentivizing Good Behaviors
The Ant Forest Program translates the users’ low-carbon activity into what’s called virtual green energy. For example, a walk of 10,000 steps will give you nearly 200 grams of virtual green energy. And a real tree takes at least 18,000 grams.
An accumulation of enough energy is qualified for a real tree. Want a tree planted for you? Start walking!
Notes: Ant Forest received a 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, recognized for inspiring consumers to reduce their carbon footprint, resulting in China’s largest private sector tree-planting initiative.
