Tree Planting
How your purchase plant trees 🌳
At MyNakama, we've joined forces with Verdn, collaborating with the esteemed Eden Reforestation Project.
For every product you purchase, a tree is planted, directly contributing to global reforestation efforts.
We've broken down how it works, to make it easy:
- You purchase a product, and see the impact badge on each product
- We make a donation on your behalf (it doesn't cost you anything)
- Verdn notifies their partner Eden reforestation project who actually carry out the planting, who employs local villagers to plant trees in Madagascar, Mozambique and Kenya.
- You can track your impact through your dashboard - you'll receive it on email.
Growing a Greener Future 🌱
Our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility drives this initiative, empowering you to make a positive impact with each order. Together, we're fostering a greener, more sustainable world for future generations. Join us in this vital mission as we work towards a healthier planet, one tree at a time.
- While fossil fuels emit carbon when we burn them, trees absorb carbon to grow.
- Since humans started cutting them down, half of the world’s forests have disappeared.[1]
- The world loses a football field of forest every 2 seconds.[2]
- Direct annual benefits of (standing) forests clock in at $130 billion.[3]
- The cost of deforestation is anywhere between $2-5 trillion annually if you include forests’ role in water provision, soil protection, carbon storage and climate regulation.[3]
- A single mangrove tree can remove over 300 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere, assuming it grows for 25 years. That is roughly 12 kg of CO2 per year.[4]
Why are trees and forests so important?
In the fight against climate change, trees are an exceptional resource. While fossil fuels emit planet-warming carbon when we burn them, trees absorb carbon to grow. They store that carbon inside themselves, in their trunk, roots, and surrounding soil, in a process known as carbon sequestration. In return, they release oxygen, the very molecule we need to breathe.
In addition to mitigating climate change, forests also have other crucial functions for Earth’s biosphere. They are habitats for a vast majority of Earth’s species of plants and animals. Forests also have huge roles in water provision, soil protection and climate regulation.
Details about Mangroves
Mangroves are small trees that grow in the salty coastal waters of over 100 countries. Mangrove forests are essential ecosystems whose dense roots serve as an anchor for the soil and coastline, preventing erosion and creating a barrier between harsh ocean systems and land. They store four times as much carbon as even tropical rainforest, making them an important tool to mitigate climate change.
Verdn works together with Eden reforestation project
Eden Reforestation Projects reduces extreme poverty and restores healthy forests by employing local villagers to plant millions of trees every year.
Eden takes a holistic approach to reforestation and ecological restoration. They partner with villages committed to restoring their forest, and then hire and train locals to plant new trees. The reforestation provides the villagers with consistent income that helps them provide for their families. The villagers protect their new forests because they have a vested interest in them, and as a result, the seedling survival rate is an astounding 80%. Only native trees are ever planted.
Trees pledged through Verdn are planted in either Madagascar, Mozambique or Kenya. In the beginning, we are exclusively planting mangrove trees along coastal ecosystems.
Madagascar
Madagascar is an island off the East coast of Africa. It's the 4th largest island in the world. Due to its isolated geography, the nation has over 200,000 species of plants and animals that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. However, much of this biodiversity is under threat. Due to rampant deforestation, it is estimated that at least 50% of Madagascar’s original forests have been destroyed. The vanishing forests have displaced entire animal species, and robbed the ability for many Malagasy’s to farm and live on the land. Additionally, entire mangrove estuaries are gone, leaving the bare earth to wash away into the sea.
Eden Reforestation Projects launched operations in Madagascar in 2007. Eden has planted over 300 million trees in Madagascar to date.
Mozambique
Mozambique is a country located on the eastern coast of Africa. Its home to 20 globally threatened bird species, and over 200 endemic mammal species. With 68% of its population living rurally, and 45% living beneath the poverty line, the Mozambique people rely heavily on the country’s natural resources and forests for survival.
Historically home to vast mangrove estuaries and forests, Mozambique’s mangroves have been largely destroyed. Eden Reforestation Projects is working with local communities and villagers to restore, replant and protect these precious forest systems. To date, Eden has planted 7.5 million trees in Mozambique.
Kenya
Kenya is a country located on the eastern coast of Africa. Along with its population of over 50 million, it also inhabits wildlife like lions, elephants and rhinos. However, Kenya faces high rates of deforestation that threatens both its flora and fauna. It is estimated that the country has lost 40% of its forests since achieving independence in 1963, and that 12,000 hectares are still lost annually.
In partnership with Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a local organization, Eden has established a project in Kenya that will on mangrove and coastal forest habitats. Eden is operating in Lamu County, an area with few opportunities for long-term employment and high levels of poverty. Eden’s tree nursery will provide employment, in addition to restoring key habitats that support livelihoods and cultural heritage. So far, over 500,000 trees have been planted.
Together, we're growing a world we can be proud to pass on to the next generation. 🌏🌱