The very foundation of our brand is built upon Tree Planting. From the outset, we have pledged to protect global forests from deforestation with every Tree Tent we sell. In the decade since we started out, we are incredibly proud to say that we’ve helped plant over 967,000 trees across Zambia, Madagascar, India and the United States with partners including leading restoration experts WeForest, Eden Reforestation Projects and Arbor Day Foundation.
And this Arbor Day, we have an exciting announcement to share with you; from May 2023 we are extending our planting efforts with a brand new partnership with veritree!
Who are veritree?
We have partnered up with veritree - a data driven, restorative platform who take the mystery out of tree planting - so that we can better verify and monitor the impact of our environmental efforts. After all, it’s all good planting hundreds of thousands of trees - but how do we ensure their survival once they’re in the soil? And how do we, and our customers, know exactly where they’re planted, how large an area we have reforested together, and what measurable collective impact we have had in revitalising ecosystems, strengthening communities, and building measurable climate solutions?
Through this partnership, we will bring transparency to the whole process – to ensure the right trees are planted in the right place and that the trees, once planted, are staying in the ground as intended – benefitting communities and restoring deforested regions for many, many, decades to come.
veritree runs its global restoration network via on-the-ground monitoring, using mobile devices in the hands of local community members to measure impact. Whenever a tree is planted, the whole process is recorded, with each individual shrub registered and issues with it’s own QR code as it goes into the ground. Using this blockchain technology and in-field data, veritree provide us (and you!) with regular updates about our planting sites – from the carbon sequestered, to the species planted, the hours of work provided to local communities, and the impact all of these efforts have on local environment and ecosystems. You can follow our progress and the impact we're having, here.
Where will we be planting trees?
Tentsile will be planting Mangrove trees with a project called Earth Lungs in Kenya. Coastal Kenya is one of the least developed regions of the country. Communities here are dependent on the Mangrove ecosystems for employment, livelihood, and nutrition. In recent decades, coastal areas in Southern Kenya have been urbanized at unprecedented rates, and vast areas of Mangrove forest have been converted into other land use. Coupled with lack of effective governance, Mangroves were overexploited and overharvested, and the destruction of these areas also contributed to the loss of critical habitats for many organisms such as the fish that local fishermen depend on for food and income.
With each Tree Tent and Hammock you purchase you will be planting 20 verified Mangrove trees, and together we will be restoring these depleted forests. An integral goal of this project is to empower the coastal community in Kenya to break the poverty cycle. In restoring the Mangrove estuary, which is rich in biodiversity, EarthLungs is actively regenerating the environment and fishing grounds for local people. This helps to create additional income streams, including sustainable harvests from the Mangrove forests. The restored forests will also help to stabilize coastlines, which will act as a vital line of defence to protect the land and the communities during tropical storms and wildfires, both of which are becoming more commonplace due to the acceleration of climate change. All of this of course, is in addition to the carbon that will be sequestered back into the plants themselves.
Why do we plant trees?
Nature is our single greatest ally when it comes to fighting climate change. Restoring nature through tree planting, benefits the planet, ecosystems, and local communities. Trees act as carbon sinks, i.e. they absorb and store carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, but these carbon sinks are only effective if the trees remain growing and on the ground for a long time. In addition, trees also help prevent soil erosion, provide habitat for animals, enhance biodiversity, and provide fuel and income for people and communities.
There are approximately 3 trillion trees on Earth, which sounds a lot, but is only half as many as there were 12,000 years ago. It’s estimated that people cut down 15 billion trees each year, so preserving our existing forests is important. We also need to continue to restore degraded land and ecosystems through planting the right trees in the right place, and in the right way, to make sure the trees go on to thrive.
Why Trees Matter
The amount of carbon dioxide sequestered per tree varies by several different factors, such as type of tree, environmental influences, the tree’s maturity, lifespan, and more! For instance, it is estimated that an Acadian tree sequesters 1.1 tons of CO2 during the average Acadian tree’s lifespan, a Douglas Fir sequesters 1.08 Tons of CO2 in its lifetime, and a Mangrove tree sequesters 0.31 Tons of CO2 in its lifetime. That said, these numbers are only estimates and are subject to change as research and monitoring evolves.
As ever, we have our customers to thank for the progress we’ve made so far in our tree planting work – and we hope that you will keep supporting Tentsile so we can continue to improve our World, one tree at a time.
