--- title: Environmentalist Richard Torres Marries a Tree in Columbia description: ... symbolically canonical: https://time.com/3602329/environmentalist-marries-a-tree/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-24T16:32:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:14:48.104Z og:title: Environmentalist Richard Torres Marries a Tree in Columbia og:description: ... symbolically og:url: https://time.com/3602329/environmentalist-marries-a-tree/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Environmentalist Richard Torres Marries a Tree in Columbia twitter:description: ... symbolically twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Environmentalist Hugs a Tree by Marrying It by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 24, 2014 4:32 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 24, 2014 4:32 PM UTC A Peruvian man known for his environmentalism redefined the term “tree hugger” when he married a tree at a national park in Bogotá, Columbia on Sunday. Richard Torres symbolically married the tree as a way to promote caring for trees in Columbia, and in an effort to encourage the rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to plant trees instead of inciting war, [according to the Associated Press](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/photos/A/a215376c-e84c-4aeb-b53d-65d1fb0cd76f.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT). While Torres’ nuptials seem to have been intended more as an awareness-raising campaign, it is not unheard of for people to commit to spending the rest of their lives with a non-human or object. The 2008 documentary [_Married to the Eiffel Tower_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1671539/) follow a number of people, mostly women, who claim to have long-term relationships with large objects. This is reportedly Torres’ [second time](http://www.kpvi.com/content/news/national/story/Man-marries-his-second-tree/JKRrAMyi7EyxZP1WIGAPoQ.cspx) symbolically marrying a tree. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3602329/environmentalist-marries-a-tree/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3602329/environmentalist-marries-a-tree/"},"headline":"Environmentalist Hugs a Tree by Marrying It","datePublished":"2014-11-24T16:32:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:14:48.104Z","description":"... symbolically","url":"https://time.com/3602329/environmentalist-marries-a-tree/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Environment","Marriage","relationships","tree"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3602329/environmentalist-marries-a-tree/","name":"Environmentalist Hugs a Tree by Marrying It"}}]}] ```