10 Tree Planting Projects & How to Start Your Own

As the popular saying goes, "Trees are the lungs of our planet." They are a vital part of forest and woodland ecosystems and play a big role in our food-producing systems. Unfortunately, there's a growing global problem of tree felling and deforestation. Thankfully, tree-planting projects are springing up across the globe.

Trees are being removed without sufficient replanting and reforestation to offset the loss. We should all be concerned as trees:

• Provide the oxygen we breathe.
• Trap and store carbon, reducing the atmospheric greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
• Bring rain to the land and play a crucial role in the world's water cycle.
• Store water and stabilize the soil.
• Protect the soil and increase surrounding soil fertility.
• Supply biomass for fuel needs and fertility.
• Offer shade from the sun.
• Provide windbreaks.
• Filter dust and clean the air of other airborne contaminants.
• Provide valuable wood, fruits, nuts, flowers, medicines, and other resources for humans.
• Provide fodder, habitat, and other resources for other livestock and wildlife.

Related: Share our tree-planting quotes to inspire others to get involved or shop brands that plant trees to plant a few at the checkout.

Trees Matter

Trees serve as the lynchpins of natural ecosystems. They have beneficial interactions with other trees, soil biota, wildlife, and humanity. Even though we sometimes pass them by, trees are living beings like us who care for their offspring and other organisms around them. They also learn and relearn things just as we do.

So, we need to protect trees. In their own way, trees are also working to protect us, especially from global warming. They provide crucial support in reversing and reducing the effects of global emissions causing climate change.

It is important to note that tree planting alone cannot offset our mammoth global carbon emissions. But it can help us to mitigate and adapt in the face of our climate emergency¹. Planting trees is a vital part of the pathway to a more resilient, fair, and sustainable future.

There is a range of different ways in which we can use trees to help repair the damage humanity has done, restore degraded landscapes, and even improve them to meet the needs of wildlife and humanity better.

Tree planting schemes can:

• Restore watersheds and restore balance in the world's water cycle.
• Prevent soil degradation and replenish fertility.
• 'Rewild' landscapes and restore natural biodiversity.
• Create abundant and sustainable food-producing systems.
• Enrich human-built environments and 're-green' cities.

10 Tree Planting Projects Around the World

There are many individual and group tree-planting projects around the world. These projects are established for different reasons, e.g., deforestation, climate crises, natural water cycle, loss of habitat for animals, and more. You'll find some projects where volunteers plant trees and others funded by donations or by governments.

However, their common goal is to replace native trees in places where they have been/are being lost. Let's look at some major tree-planting schemes around the world and the tree-planting organizations behind them:

1. The World Economic Forum's Trillion Trees Initiative

The Trillion Trees Initiative is one of the largest reforestation initiatives in place. It is a partnership of governments, businesses, civil society, and ecopreneurs who have come together to create a unifying platform for the reforestation community. It brings together and supports a huge range of organizations doing their bit: planting trees and restoring our planet.

Through this platform, all local people interested in tree planting can work with those involved in the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, the Bonn Challenge (see below), the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration, and many others working towards the same or similar goals.

Visit Website.

2. The Bonn Challenge – Global Effort To Restore 350 Hectares of Forest by 2030

The Bonn Challenge is another key tree-planting initiative that seeks to restore 350 million hectares of forest by 2030. The German Government and IUCN launched this project. It was later endorsed and extended by the New York Declaration on Forests at the 2014 UN Climate Summit.

So far, the pledge count is at 172.35 million hectares. Many countries have made ambitious pledges under the Bonn Challenge, and many have already made substantial progress toward meeting those commitments. Check out the link below to learn more about the commitments made and the exciting tree-planting success stories that have been born of them.

Visit Website.

3. Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative – 350 Million Trees in Just One Day

Many countries have achieved great things under the Bonn Challenge and other such initiatives, and Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative seems to be a significant addition. Launched last May, this program is an attempt to combat the climate crisis and environmental degradation.

Although we cannot verify the exact number of trees planted (by an alleged 23 million people who took part), it seems clear that many trees were planted. This initiative likely trumps the previous world record for the number of trees planted in a single day in Uttar Pradesh, India, in 2016, when more than 800,000 people planted 50 million trees.

The government of Ethiopia aimed to plant 4 billion trees by the end of last year, and while it is not entirely clear exactly how many trees were planted, it is clear that they are making great strides in reforestation.

Find out more.

4. Ecosia – Planting Trees One Web Search at a Time

The web search site Ecosia, founded in 2009, has planted over 86 million trees. When its 15 million active users search the web, ads generate money, and Ecosia uses this income to plant trees. They aim to plant a billion native trees and have a series of strong restoration projects worldwide.

Ecosia supports over 20 tree-planting projects in 15 countries, working with local partners who monitor trees in the ground. They focus on planting in biodiversity hotspots and where people want them.

Visit Website.

5. The Nature Conservancy – Planting One Billion Trees

The Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees campaign is another ambitious plan to help curb climate change and address deforestation. Check out this link for more impressive tree-planting projects undertaken with donations from this campaign in Africa, China, and throughout the Americas.

Visit Website.

6. The World Land Trust – Helping Reforest Our Planet

The World Land Trust has provided the funds to plant well over 2 million trees and counting. By planting trees with the World Land Trust, many people are helping to restore forests that have been lost to deforestation.

The World Land Trust works with a network of in-country conservation partners to protect crucial habitats and restore areas that have been deforested. Check out, for example, their work in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Visit Website.

7. One Tree Planted – Restoration Partner of the United States Forestry Service

One Tree Planted has planted over 4 million trees in 18 countries across four global regions. They've planted more than 1.8 million trees in North America, 1.2 million in Africa, 465,000 in Asia, and 423,000 in South America.

In 2020, the project aims to plant more than 6 million more. They are now an official reforestation partner of the United States Forest Service (USFS) and work in partnership with other groups.

Visit Website.

8. World Agroforestry – Sustainable Tree-Based Food Producing Systems

World Agroforestry is a center of science and development that disseminates knowledge of agroforestry and its practices. Knowledge spread by ICRAF enables governments, development agencies, local communities, and farmers to utilize the power of trees to make farming and livelihoods more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable at all scales.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, they operate six regional programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

World Agroforestry also conducts research in more than 30 other countries around the developing world. The knowledge of agroforestry informs and enables a wide range of agroforestry schemes across the globe, contributing to increasing tree cover and re-greening degraded land.

Visit Website.

9. Ecosystem Restoration Camps – the Movement To Restore the Earth

This Dutch non-profit organization, Ecosystem Restoration Camps, has hundreds of members from over 30 countries worldwide. Their big goal is to have one million people come together by 2030 and restore degraded lands in 100 ecosystem restoration camps worldwide.

Check out their website to see the amazing tree planting going on at the existing camps. You can also learn more about seedling camps springing up around the globe.

Visit Website.

10. International Tree Foundation – Tree Planting and Capacity Building

The International Tree Foundation is a charitable company that runs tree-planting programs in Africa and the UK. They support a range of community-led initiatives that plant and promote trees and forests for the future of our planet and human life. They planted approaching 500,000 trees in 2019.

Of course, there are many more fantastic tree-planting projects. Many of them focus on a particular area. They have very specific targets – from restoring the Amazon to reforesting a nation to producing food and building resilience for a specific community. Whether we are talking about millions of trees or just a single, small plantation, millions of people worldwide are making a big difference.

Visit Website.

How to Start a Local Tree Planting Project

If you want to make a difference where you live, there are many ways to start a local tree-planting or restoration project. The first step might be to see whether you can partner with or get involved with one of the major tree-planting schemes mentioned above. These organizations are often well-placed to offer advice and help you find funding and resources for your project.

Of course, your particular tree planting project's size, scale, scope, and goals will define the best course of action. The type of tree planting you choose will obviously also depend on your area's climate and environmental and social factors.

Determine the scale, scope, and goals of your project

One of the first things to determine is what kind of tree-planting scheme you are interested in. For example, you might be looking at:

• Bioregion or area-wide ecosystem restoration (large-scale reforestation projects).
• Agroforestry or community forestry scheme (community-scale projects).
• A smaller community garden, street planting, or community orchard-type scheme (smaller community projects).
• Simply plant more trees on your own land or in your own garden.

Also, consider whether you already have a site or if one will need to be found for your project.

There is plenty of information online to guide you through the process of designing your project and forming a working group, which will guide you through the process of how to play trees and meet your goals.

Take guidelines and principles into account.

A number of different organizations and initiatives have already created a series of globally applicable guidelines and principles for reforestation and forest restoration.

Take, for example, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration's five basic rules:

• Consider the roots (of issues that caused deforestation in the first place).
• Work with nature. (Right trees for the right places, native plants, seek advice if looking to plant non-native trees, especially in or around a native forest where specific rules may apply, etc...)
• Work with people. (Listen to and meet the needs of key stakeholders.)
• Ask an expert. (Work with those with a deep understanding of ecosystem restoration.)
• Plan ahead and be patient. (Remember, ecosystem restoration takes time.)

Other applicable guidelines and principles include those from the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration, the Society for Ecological Restoration, and the Forest and Climate Working Group.

These guidelines and principles should help you form a solid foundation for your project. But there is plenty more reading you can do. Seek the information out there to help you with your tree planting scheme or reforestation project.

Reading up on agroforestry, forest gardening, agroecology, and national forest ecosystems, in general, will help, as you will be fully informed about the climate and conditions in your bioregion. Also, some areas may be home to endangered species that require consideration so as not to further impact their plight. The design principles of permaculture may also help you develop a framework for your project.

Planting trees, whether on a large or small scale, can be an important step in forging a sustainable future for our planet and for humanity. Combined with protecting existing forests and forest resources, your support for any of the above projects helps us combat the worst of climate change and aids environmental protection.