Mohammad Tajeran, 41, packed his life in a 60-liter rucksack 11 years ago and began cycling around the world aiming to promote the protection of environment.

He initiated WeNeedTrees, a non-profit association based in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2014.

“Living a light and simple life is very important. It gives you an opportunity to be dynamic,” he explained.

He has traveled to 51 countries so far. During his trips, he has visited schools, speaking and dialoguing with students. He has planted about 1,000 trees in cooperation with students, depicting tree as a universal symbol of life.

“God’s pocket covers costs of my travelling,” he told the Tehran Times. 

For the past 11 years, he has travelled 11 months a year and stayed in Iran for one month.

 

I dreamed of cycling!

“I dreamed once that I should travel and be in service of nature. So, I decided to do that,” he said.

Tajeran has studied mechanical engineering, working in this field for some years. However, he began cycling to different countries in 2006 with just 300 dollars in hand.

“For me cycling around the world was not a spontaneous decision. It was a ten-year process,” he explained.

He said that he began to think deeply about himself and his life since he was 19.

“I was searching for the meaning of life and what is all about through perception and intuition in life of myself and others,” he said.

Tajeran said that except for academic books he has never read any other book and has followed up on his instinct during life.

“I was raised in a middle class family. I lost my father when I was three and my mother was uneducated. So I did not have any book around to read for many years and I always feel bad about this issue.

“However, when I begin to think deeply about the purpose of existence through intuition, I come to conclusion that lack of book reading makes my natural instinct sharper,” he said.

“At the beginning I thought of life as a big puzzle, in which each of us is a piece but after a time I changed my mind,” Tajeran explained.

He said that he missed the “dynamicity” of life in this allegory.

“I prefer to resemble life to theater, in which any of us has a role and has potentiality to perform that,” he said.

Tajeran has explored his life by details. He explained that all the happenings in his life are connected to each other.

“I understand that whenever we are synchronized with our role, all the universe accompany us to be successful,” he said.

One should trust in instinct and listen to his or her inner voice, he added.

“My family lived in Mashhad and I moved to Tehran when I was 25. I was really depressed that time. However I began to study my own life and understand that whenever I was synchronized with universe everything is great but in other cases, you have no achievements,” he said.

 Traveling makes you wise!

What you need for taking major decisions is your wisdom, he said.

“Knowledge is not enough for human being and what turns your knowledge to wisdom is experience,” he said.

Traveling makes you to avoid routines of life and makes you a lot of experience, which is essential for life,” he explained.

He said that whenever you don’t want to be in other shoes that means that you are in right place!

We Need Trees!

From the very first day of cycling I aims to use experience, credits and relationships to promote nature, he said.

“The renovation of nature is either impossible or very expensive so it is better to teach children how to protect the environment,” he said.

Tajeran said that Iran is chosen as pilot for the project.

"I have been here in Iran for the past nine months to start some projects for the association in the near future,” he explained.

As it is mentioned on the website of association, the mission of WeNeedTrees is to educate and build awareness of the importance of each individual’s role in sustaining a healthy environment through Love and Respect for nature. Love and Respect for nature provides Hope for a better world.

SB/MG