'The Heirs' Star Lee Min Ho Becomes PR Ambassador For Chilean Reforestation Project

Lee Min Ho can now add reforestation in Chile to the list of cheritable causes he has been involved in.

The socially conscious star of the South Korean television dramas "Boys Over Flowers" and "The Heirs," announced that he has accepted an offer to become the new public relations ambassador for the Reforest Patagonia Project, Chile's environmental campaign to preserve the region's rainforests, in a video released Thursday.

"Protecting the earth is a homework that we as a human race must do," Lee said. "I'm very proud of my fans who took the initiative to participate in the campaign."

The Reforest Patagonia Project was started by the Chilean government as a result of a 2011 forest fire that destroyed over 14,000 acres of rainforest in the country's Patagonia region that had been declared a protected area by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization since 1978.

One Chilean Lee Min Ho fan told the publication eNEWS that many advocates of the cause are overjoyed at their new 26-year-old PR ambassador.

"Not only are we touched, but the world is touched by Lee Min Ho's answer [to accept the ambassadorship]," the fan said.

"We're thankful that he has become our campaign's strong voice, and although we are far away, we believed that our hearts are connected across the ocean."

The leaders of the Reforest Patagonia Project were inspired to offer Lee Min Ho the ambassadorship after a group of his fans planted 861 trees in the region on the actor's behalf.

The organization heads were reportedly impressed by the fan club's dedication to what became known as the Lee Min Ho Forest.

The actor is known for his previous for anti-deforestation work, planting an estimated 10 million trees in Mongolia in cooperation with cosmetics brand Innisfree.

When activists from the Reforest Patagonia Project reached out to Lee though a video message of their own including a hand written-sign pleading for him to accept the ambassadorship, the actor was touched, according to a representative from the actor's management company Starhaus Entertainment.

"We recently received a video about the reforestation of Chile's Patagonia," the rep said.

"The video had beautiful forests and people, as well as the sincere request for Lee Mi Ho to become the ambassador of the project. In an effort to protect the environment, Lee Min Ho has decided to do so, replying to the fans' requests with much joy."

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Lee Min Ho
boys over flowers
The Heirs
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