Will a giant QR code help to save the environment?

tuvalu mangrove giant qr code

A Taiwanese artist has used a tech friendly mangrove project to combat climate change.

Tuvalu, a tiny country in the South Pacific made of nine islets, now features a giant QR code art project. This quick response code is meant to act as a means to draw attention to the battle against climate change. The barcode was made by Vincent J.F. Huang, an artist from Taiwan.

The QR code is made out of 3,000 mangrove trees that the artist planted on Tuvalu’s coastline.

The trees were planted in the shape of the giant QR code last month in one of the nine islets that comprise the South Pacific island nation. When scanned, the quick response code directs smartphone users to a website. That site shares information about the threats Tuvalu currently faces to its very existence. Climate change is primary among those threats.

Huang visited Tuvalu from August 25 through August 30. During that time, the artist worked with local residents on the Funafala coast. Funafala is the name of the islet.

Together, they planted the mangroves in the shape of the 225 square meter giant QR code.


The QR code is about 740 square feet in size. It has been created on an islet where only five families currently live. The artist was careful to make sure that several photographs were taken of the mangrove barcode. That way, the picture can be scanned, too. After all, with so few people on the island and as the barcode can be scanned only from above, it needed another means to be scanned.

The website to which the quick response code directs offers information about rising sea levels as a result of global climate change. These rising sea levels threaten the existence of Tuvalu’s islands.

After the artist returned to Taiwan, he explained “With this innovative project, I want to call more attention around the world to the crisis facing Tuvalu and the impact of global climate change.” He pointed out that climate change is something that affects the entire world. “it’s an issue faced by everyone,” he said. He brought this message home with him with the picture of the giant QR code, saying “We in Taiwan are no exception.”

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