In Peru, "Plant Guy" uses social media to fight desertification

On the arid hills of Lima, Jean Carlos Torres (The Plant Guy) is fighting desertification by mobilizing communities on social media to plant trees.

In the early hours of the morning, a silent procession breaks the gray monotony of Santa Rosa Hill, north of Lima. A group of citizens moves forward, armed with shovels, pickaxes, and bags of soil, led by a 32-year-old man wearing a straw hat, a smartphone always in hand. This man in his thirties is Jean Carlos Torres, known online as “El chico de las plantas, ”or “The Plant Guy,” an eco-digital influencer with 534,000 followers on TikTok and more than 350,000 on Instagram.

His mission is monumental: to bring life where it has never existed, transforming the barren slopes of the Peruvian capital by creating new plant ecosystems—a process radically different from simple reforestation. Lima is the second-largest desert metropolis in the world after Cairo, and its ten million residents have only 2.76 square meters of green space per person—well below the nine square meters recommended by the WHO.

Native species and hydrogel to combat soil aridity

The project is based on rigorous scientific planning that has been entrusted for the past six months to Daudet Ramos, a specialist in agribusiness and environmental engineering. The soil is prepared, fertilized, and watered fifteen days before planting. To ensure the plants’ survival in such a hostile environment, only drought-resistant native species are selected.

The secret to their ability to take root lies in a strategic combination of engineering and recycling: a drip irrigation system made from reused bottles and the incorporation of hydrogel into the soil. These semi-transparent hydrogel beads retain water and slowly release it to the roots, virtually eliminating plant mortality on the sandy slopes.

A social commitment to combating the privilege of the shadows

Torres’s inner strength is rooted in his childhood spent amid the concrete of Callao, helping his mother, who has been selling plants for 26 years. After leaving a management position at a carpet company, the young man realized that in Lima, shade represents an intolerable class privilege: parks abound in wealthy neighborhoods like San Isidro but are virtually nonexistent in outlying areas like San Juan de Miraflores.

To combat this injustice, Torres founded Regen Perú, an organization supported by micro-donations and regenerative finance, which has already planted about 600 trees in two years. However, work on the ground only begins if residents commit to collective maintenance: for every 50 trees, at least five people must take responsibility. It is women like Casilda and Nancy who check the water lines every day, protecting the leaves from dust to ensure a green future for their children.