09/20/2024
Trees for the Future has restored 41,345 hectares since 2014, an area about the size of Tanzania’s capital, Dodoma, as well as supporting over 50,000 households and capturing 347 metric tonnes of CO2 per hectare through its model – the equivalent of emissions from over 100,000 litres of diesel consumed. Drylands restoration also helps increase the income and improve the health of farmers and their families. The TREES initiative is expecting to create 230,000 jobs by 2030 in Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The World Restoration Flagship awards are part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) – which aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. The awards track notable initiatives following global commitments to restore one billion hectares – an area larger than China. The award for the African Forest Gardens was announced by UN Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, actor and filmmaker, Edward Norton.
A World Restoration Flagship
As a World Restoration Flagship, TREES will now be eligible for technical and financial UN support. Together with envisioned new partners and funding sources, TREES is now aiming at restoring 229,000 hectares of drylands by 2030, an area almost 30 times the size of Senegal’s capital, Dakar. This is expected to create almost a quarter million jobs, and capture and store 79.5 million metric tonnes of CO2 over 20 years – the equivalent of what a coal-fired plant would burn in that period.
Trees for the Future is a nonprofit organization focused on land restoration in developing communities around the world. Help us grow greener!