Because the environment is essential to life, conservation works are vital, and environmental organizations become a necessity. Throughout history, many ENGOs have made significant impacts on the world, both good and bad. Take a look at some noteworthy examples below where we list out achievements and setbacks of tree-planting projects across the world.
A single drop of water seems insignificant. But by millions, they keep all lives on our planet alive. Similarly, in order to save the environment, we, as individuals, need to work together, communicate, coordinate, and converge our efforts in environmental movements.
Tree-planting Projects’ Achievements
One Tree Planted
One Tree Planted is on a quest to reforest the world. Its purpose is to make it easy for people to grasp the value of trees and to protect them.
The organization has done an amazing job of doubling the number of trees planted each year since 2014. Furthermore, their influence has spread across over 43 countries in North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific.
Reforestation
They have planted an astonishing number of 40 million trees around the world. And in 2021 alone, they have impressively planted more than 23 million trees via their 166 different projects.
Social and economic influence
One Tree Planted also focuses on the current socio-economic issues. Via their reforestation effort, over 35,000 farming families are supported; 5,000 women get hired; and over 39,000 volunteers get engaged.
Arbor Day Foundation
More than 500 million trees have been planted by the Arbor Day Foundation across the world. In the United States, they have planted around 5,000,000 trees each year since the start of operation.
Tackle global issues
The Arbor Day Foundation has received a second $250,000 grant from the Bank of America to boost the number of trees planted in low- and moderate-income communities in four US cities.
In December 2018, the Arbor Day Foundation attended the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24, in Katowice, Poland, to urge investments in natural climate solutions, particularly forests and trees.
Programs and projects
The Arbor Day Foundation and Intrinsyx Environmental are teaming together to start a phytoremediation program, which involves using trees and plants to clean up contaminated soil.
Help local communities
By questioning 3,600 municipal partners through their Tree City USA initiative, The Arbor Day Foundation has gained more insight into the impacts of pollution on local communities. In 2020, they have proposed phytoremediation as a possible solution to this problem.
Tree-Nation
“Every time you sell a product, you plant a tree.”
The above quote is Tree-Nation’s well-known slogan. Based in Barcelona, the company’s platform offers a simple proposition–for a small fee, either a company or an individual can sanction the planting of a tree anytime, anywhere.
Reforestation
- Tree-Nation has planted around five million trees in Europe, the U.S., Asia, the Middle East and South and Central America.
- Compensating more than 200 million Kilos of CO2.
- Working with 16 planting projects around the world.
- 350,000 citizens and 8,000 companies have already joined Tree-Nation, and together they have planted more than 19,000,000 trees in 35 different countries.
Supporting local community’s needs
Tree-Nation tailors each project to local needs. They offer economic benefits of climate change mitigation via sheltering crops, preventing flooding or providing food.
TreeSisters
TreeSisters is an influential tree planting project, seen in Brazil, Borneo, Cameroon, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar, Nepal, and West Papua. Their initial goal is to plant nearly 25 million trees in these 12 different areas.
Social and economic influence
TreeSisters supports local people and improve their livelihoods, safeguards critically endangered animals, and promotes gender equality.
They have also raised approximately £1,000,000 through subscription donors, events, and campaigns.
TreeSisters is currently in collaboration with Eden Projects, WeForest (a Brazilian NGO), and the International Tree Foundation (working in Kenya). These organizations all have a major impact on the fight against climate change.
Programs and Campaigns
- Launched a global health awareness campaign called “Reforest Our Future,” which highlights how forests intertwine with human health.
- Created and launched an IndieGoGo campaign to generate funding for the design and launch of our new online platform and website.
Eden Reforestation Projects
Eden Reforestation Projects (Eden) is an international organization dedicated to eradicating extreme poverty and restoring healthy forests in Madagascar, Haiti, Nepal, Indonesia, Mozambique, Kenya, Central America, and Brazil.
Reforestation efforts
- Planted over 380 million trees throughout eight project countries since its creation, with over 15 million trees added each month.
- Started looking for prospective reforestation project locations around Maputo in 2018 and spoke with locals who were employed to assist repair their environment. The local crew planted around 280,000 mangrove plants in the first three months here.
International success
- Expanded their reach to 11 countries with new facilities including the Philippines, Brazil, and Ethiopia.
- Began working with indigenous tribes in Honduras and Nicaragua to create reforestation operations In 2020. Eden Projects has created a partnership with Honduras’ La Tigra National Park.
- Opened a project site in Nicaragua’s Bosawas Biosphere Reserve
Improve local ecosystem
Initially, the Mangrove trees planted in restoration initiatives in Madagascar, Indonesia, and Mozambique had a survival rate of 80 percent.
Support local communities and indigenous groups
One of Eden’s strong points is their emphasis on natural plant usage and native tree species, which differ by country. In addition, they plant a percentage of agroforestry species for long-term community benefit.
Create new job opportunities
Due to the vulnerability of these young forests, Eden Projects constructs various guard towers at their planting areas. Villagers are employed as guards and participate in the preservation and care of their own forests.
Planting Setbacks
Breath for the Future
Breath for the Future, a Turkish government-backed initiative, has a good start in reforestation. In 2019, Breath for the Future is recorded as the largest tree-planting project in Turkey, with 11 million trees by volunteers.
However, less than 3 months later, up to 90% of the saplings planted are dead. Despite their strong backing, Breath of the Future shows that there are still pitfalls that can decimate any tree-planting project:
Lack of expertise in planning
The main reason for saplings dying en masse is due to the lack of rainfall to support their growth. Even worse, most of the trees were planted at the wrong time which lowers their survival rate. By consulting with tree-planting experts or regional arbologists, the projects could have succeeded.
Neglecting tree maintenance
After trees are planted, maintenance ensures their survival. However, Breath of the Future lacks long-term visions for tree-planting, shown via the non-existing maintenance of the saplings. This contributes to their saplings dying.
Focusing on numbers only
Because tree-planting is often thought to be the only way to offset climate change, many tree-planting projects often think of “the more the merrier” when it comes to trees. This is the ultimate pitfall in tree-planting, as too many trees will negatively affect the environment instead. For Breath for the Future, this leads to too little nutrition for the trees.
Sowing Life–AMLO’s flagship environmental project
An Ambitious Scheme
Sembrando Vida, Lopez Obrador’s centerpiece environmental initiative, is a $3.4 billion tree-planting scheme designed to assist meet climate objectives while also achieving his larger goal of combating Mexico’s widespread poverty and inequality.
Cutback on Fund
The funding was decreased once President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador entered office in 2018, and Sowing Life was implemented.
Instead of paying in cash, it pays farmers to grow fruit or wood trees on tiny pieces of land, with the goal of generating a long-term enterprise in impoverished rural communities.
Some farmers keep the money and perform the bare minimum to avoid being kicked out of the program, believing that when the handouts run out, they can just grow more profitable crops.
Downfall
According to research, the Washington-based WRI predicts that the initiative may have resulted in the loss of approximately 73,000 hectares of forest cover in 2019 alone.
Because the areas designated for wood haven’t been properly registered, it’s unclear when licenses will be issued to log the trees after they’ve matured.
Administrators frequently ask participants to plant non-native trees in order to improve fruit or wood production, which might suffer in unfamiliar situations. According to forestry engineer Herrera and his colleagues, just 10-30% of trees planted in some areas would stay alive.
Greenpeace
Greenpeace pledges to “protect the natural environment and advocate for a more sustainable and peaceful future”. However, they’ve been accumulating a terrible reputation at the same time.
National governments, representatives of business, former Greenpeace members, scientists, political parties, and other environmentalists have all criticized Greenpeace’s policies. The group’s tactics, such as the use of direct action, have sparked debate and legal action.
Internal party structure
Greenpeace is a hierarchical and undemocratic organization that gives its people very little control over the campaigns it undertakes.
Greenpeace’s internal structure is strictly bureaucratic and borderline authoritarian; a small group of individuals controls the organization at both the international and local levels; local action groups are completely reliant on the central body; and the rank and file are largely excluded from most decisions.
Mismanagement of funds
Greenpeace supported Gilles-Éric Séralini’s research into MON 863 genetically altered maize in 2007, causing health problems in the rats used in the study.
The paper was found to include major methodological mistakes by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the French Commission du Génie Biomoléculaire (AFBV).
Tenere – New Yet Promising
Started in 2020, Tenere is a new tree-planting initiative that aims to make your shopping more eco-friendly. As a coupon website, Tenere finds you the biggest deals and discounts so that you can always shop for what they need for the lowest price. Due to its green approach, Tenere stands out among hundreds of other coupon sites.
Tenere has gained many noteworthy achievements as follows:
Pitching in on global reforestation efforts
Currently, Tenere has partnered with nine tree-planting projects, including Trees for the Future, Eden Reforestation Projects, and One Tree Planted. This adds to global tree-planting efforts, accelerating the recovery of forests to fight global warming.
Helping global canopies recover
Having planted over 7900 trees and 2000 trees conserved worldwide, Tenere prioritizes regions with little canopy cover, such as Brazil, India, and Kenya. Thanks to the efforts, the forests in these regions are recovering at an astounding speed.
Facilitating eco-shopping
With over 10,000 partnered stores and increasing, Tenere adds a touch of sustainability to a wide range of products. For every purchase made, a donation goes to worldwide tree-planting projects. In other words, all shopping is eco-shopping when you shop via Tenere!
Raising awareness about tree-planting
Having attracted over 13,000 users, Tenere acts as an interim for shoppers who wish to be more sustainable. The platform also connects more people to global tree-planting projects, raising global warming awareness in the process.
Summary
Even though many ENGOs disguise themselves as environmental projects, the good ones are doing their best to push actual progress in the fight against climate change.
We strive to improve our living conditions in today’s fast-paced environment, hoping to get a better life for ourselves and our loved ones. As a result, many of us contribute money to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support those in need.
By supporting potential initiatives like Tenere, you greatly contribute to the overall environmental movement throughout the world, especially in areas with large deforestation rates.
