Turkish teen in England honored for environmental project

By Zuhal Demirci

LONDON (AA) - A 16-year-old Turkish boy was elected as the "first young green mayor" of the Watford municipality in England for his environmental project.

Muhammad Safa Kaya won a UN award for his Plant4Life project which aims to instill the habit among students of planting seeds every year.

Kaya organizes educational meetings at primary schools in Watford to teach students about the importance of plants and their contributions to the ecosystem.

By collaborating with private companies and municipalities, Safa and his team distribute free seeds to students.

The project aims to reach over 10,000 students in approximately 30 schools, with a projected number of planted trees exceeding 1 million.

Talking about his project to Anadolu, Kaya said: "This award is given to young people who positively influence others by implementing projects in their communities. In Watford, where I live, I visit primary schools and provide sustainability-related education to students. We give them a packet of seeds and educate them on planting a seed every year."

"I am very happy to receive this award. I am definitely very happy and very grateful to everyone who supports me," he added.

He also wants to expand his project to countries across the world, including Türkiye.

"In the future, I would like to receive policy education and do projects that are beneficial to the people in my society," he said.