We’re planting trees with Eden Reforestation Projects

Planting trees to fight climate change

At Treepoints, we’re always on the lookout for ways to help individuals and businesses go climate positive. Now it’s no secret that trees are one of the best ways to fight climate change. They suck CO2 out of the atmosphere every single day, provide homes for wildlife, stop deserts from spreading and turn barren grounds back into fertile woods and farmland. Amazing right? So we’re delighted to be planting trees with Eden Reforestation Projects around the world on behalf of our business partners, helping to mitigate climate change. 

Eden Reforestation Projects is a 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to provide fair wage employment to communities in the developing world as agents of global forest restoration. Read on for more detail about their work and why we plant trees with them. 

About Eden Reforestation Projects

There are lots of people planting trees all over the world, which is absolutely brilliant. But we think the people doing it best are the Eden Reforestation Projects. Why? Well we think they put it rather well:

“Eden Reforestation Projects’ mission and vision are to recreate healthy forest systems, alleviate suffering, empower people, and build local economies in impoverished communities. 

Eden has become a model for environmental restoration and land management, while at the same time lifting thousands of people out of extreme poverty. 

Over the past 15 years, Eden has planted over 333 million trees in 8 countries, providing over 3 million workdays to thousands of improvised villagers.”

With Eden Reforestation tree planting, not only are trees being planted which reduces the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. These projects also support communities and ecosystems around the world, contributing to sustainable development. 

So why does planting trees matter?

Reforestation is one of the best climate change solutions we have. This is because trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, restart water cycles, and stop deserts from spreading. They also provide a habitat for other flora and fauna. Our planet’s trees are being destroyed at an alarming rate to make way for farmland, to provide fuel, and to create products that we use. We need not only to stop deforestation, we need to actively restore the earth’s forests to mitigate climate change. This is why planting trees is so important. 

Tree planting can take a variety of forms, such as planting trees on degraded land and tropical forest restoration. 

Sustainable Development benefits of tree planting

In addition to pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and locking it away underground, tree planting projects can contribute to sustainable development. Sadly this isn’t true of all projects, as it requires careful planning and monitoring. This is why we exclusively trust Eden Reforestation Projects with our tree planting. 

The socio-economic benefits of tree planting:

• Empowering people and lifting communities out of poverty.
• Tree planting initiatives in impoverished communities creates stable employment opportunities and offers a source of income for people who need it most.
• With this income, parents can send their children to schools, people can afford life-saving medicines and build houses.
• Planting trees regenerates the soil, making the land more fertile for growing crops, which in turn provide a source of food and income. 

Environmental benefits of tree planting: 

• Absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere to mitigate climate change.
• Trees create and maintain a habitat for animals, insects and other plants, promoting biodiversity and protecting endangered species.
• Trees restore landscapes, stabilising shorelines and mountain sides, preventing soil erosion and improving soil quality.

Where do we plant trees?

At Treepoints, our aim is to spread the positive work of our partners as widely as possible. That’s why we donate to a mixed portfolio of Eden Reforestation projects around the world. This includes tree planting in: 

• Haiti
• Honduras
• Indonesia
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Mozambique 
• Nepal
• Nicaragua 

You can see up to date records of Eden’s tree planting on their website. 

What kind of trees are planted?

Eden Reforestation Projects plants only native species trees, and these vary from nation to nation. They make sure to never plant or introduce any invasive species at any of their project sites, as this would upset the natural biodiversity of the region. 

In addition, Eden also plants a percentage of agroforestry species for sustainable community use. This prevents a community from going into newly restored forests and provides greater community benefit and involvement in the project. If you’re interested in knowing more about  the kind of trees Eden plants across their project nations, they have made a complete list available.

What does the cost of planting trees cover?

When you pay to plant a tree, you’re not just paying for the actual seedling. Your donation also covers all of the expenses involved in tree planting. This includes nursery costs, transportation of seedlings to the reforestation sites, planting, guarding, and weeding to allow a head start on vegetation.

How can we be sure your money is being used correctly? It’s a great question, and Eden has a great answer. Eden has been awarded a platinum seal of transparency from Guidestar for  commitment to transparency of use of funds. So you can see exactly where your money is going and how Eden are spending it at all times.

How we make sure our trees don’t get cut down

Not too long ago, tree planting as a climate solution was criticised, as people rightly asked how can we make sure that the trees we plant don’t just get chopped down again? Well Eden has put several measures in place to make the chances of this happening as small as possible.

• They work carefully with all levels of government to secure written agreements designating the restoration sites as protected in perpetuity. 
• Eden hires local villagers to plant the trees. This means that the community has a strong economic incentive to ensure the wellbeing of the restoration project. It also fosters a sense of “ownership” over the trees and restored forest, meaning they protect it with great care.
• Eden does all possible to supply the local villagers with alternative fuel sources (fuel efficient dry wood stoves and solar parabolic stoves), which reduces or eliminates their dependence on charcoal, meaning there is less chance that they will cut the new trees down.

Eden Project have created this helpful video on the monitoring and verification that they do for all of their projects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZjpyBuu6k 

Why we don't include tree planting in our carbon offsetting

You can plant trees with Treepoints through our business membership and simple API integration. However, we're careful to keep carbon offsetting separate from tree planting. This is because newly planted trees take years to start sequestering significant amounts of carbon. Research suggests that it takes trees around 10 years to start absorbing large quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere. This is why we do not count tree planting as contributing to offsetting carbon emissions.

The carbon offset projects that we support to offset our members' carbon footprints are all verified to the highest standard by independent, internationally recognised organisations including the Verified Carbon Standard and Gold Standard. They range from wind farms in Guyuan, China to solar cookstoves in Chad, promoting sustainable development around the world. You can read about the projects that we support here.

There are reforestation projects out there which quantify the amount of carbon absorbed by trees. But these trees are always mature and much older than our trees.

Of course this doesn't mean the trees we plant aren't still slowly sucking up CO2. And protected by Eden they will continue to for a very long time. Trees also have plenty of other environmental benefits as we've mentioned. This includes providing habitats for wildlife, replenishing soil, and preventing desertification. The tree planting schemes also provide communities with jobs and educates them about sustainability. This means they are less likely to need to rely on illegal logging for income.

For all of these reasons, we believe tree planting is one of the best ways of working towards a sustainable future for our planet.

Interested in planting trees for your business?

If you would like to know more about tree planting and the options for businesses, get in touch with us at [email protected] and we’d be delighted to discuss it with you. 

Read this next: Understanding your carbon footprint

‍