Tree planting in the Netherlands

At a glance

Together with our partner Life Terra we make local, long-lasting impact in the country of our headquarters. We plant trees around various locations in the Netherlands. In these projects, our partner works with local landowners such as farmers, to plant trees and monitor their growth on their land and restore nature and create agroforestry ecosystems. In this process children, adults, businesses and local municipalities are involved to raise awareness about climate change.

Carbon impact

Planting trees plays an important role in the fight against climate change. Trees can capture large amounts of CO2 through photosynthesis and use that carbon dioxide to grow their trunks, branches, roots and leaves. As a result, trees function as active "carbon sinks".

While it may be tempting to plant many fast-growing trees to capture a lot of carbon in a short period of time, it is better to plant a mix of species that grow constantly to ensure that there is constant carbon sequestration. Our partner firmly believes in “the right tree in the right place”, for more effective land restoration and greater ecosystem resilience. Capturing CO2 by planting trees will also reduce the negative impacts of climate change, such as heat waves, drought, forest loss, desertification, erosion and floods.

Co-benefits

Because the newly planted trees are often a replacement for monocultures, there are many biodiversity benefits. Besides directly increasing biodiversity through the greater mix of species, the new trees also have an indirect effect by creating a habitat for various insects, birds and small mammals. Thus, a new and biodiverse ecosystem is created in the new forest by planting trees. But trees offer many more benefits: for instance, they can regulate the local temperature, hold the soil together, control the flow of water through the landscape, they are an important source of food and habitat for animals. In addition, community involvement is key to these projects, as education and teaching people how to plant is part of the projects.

Life Terra was founded in 2020 on the knowledge that tree planting is regarded as the most cost-effective nature-based solution to capture carbon. The prime objective of the Life Terra is to restore degraded land and our connection to it by facilitating large-scale tree-planting events for all citizens and empowering future generations with the knowledge and tools to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.