A 23-year-old journalist from Kumasi, Ghana, Abdul Hakim Awal, has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest time spent hugging a tree.
His “tree-hug-a-thon” at Kumasi Cultural Centre lasted 24 hours and 21 minutes, surpassing the previous record of 16 hours held by Ugandan environmentalist Faith Patricia Ariokot.
Abdul took on this challenge to raise awareness about nature conservation in Ghana and pledged to plant a tree for every minute of his record attempt, resulting in 1,461 new trees.
He was required to remain standing with his arms around the tree without any breaks throughout the duration.
The record title has now been updated to “longest marathon hugging a tree,” allowing future challengers to take breaks.
This is Ghana’s second tree-hugging record this year, following Abubakar Tahiru’s achievement of hugging 1,123 trees in one hour.
