Green Wave Guiding Forest

GROWING FORESTS

Making Travel Planet & People Positive

93

Total Trees Planted

15,261 kg

Total CO2 Removed

Trees are one of the most powerful absorbers of carbon emissions – by growing trees in developing countries as we travel, we can help to restore eco-systems, biodiversity and support local communities through the dignity of employment.

Reforestation will help reverse climate change, but trees can be fragile and take time to grow, so to ensure a traveller’s carbon emissions are removed as soon as possible, Trees4Travel always assigns each tree with a share of an investment into a United Nations Certified Emissions Reduction renewable energy program, essentially doubling their promise.

Haiti

Trees4Travel and its partners were grateful for the opportunity to be able to learn about the important role of reforestation in Haiti and to have been able to help the indigenous communities restore their land. We have now completed our agreed reforestation commitment on this site. The local communities and government will continue to manage the land and protect the trees planted, so that not too far in the future, beautiful abundant forests and biodiversity can once again thrive and return to this place .

APRIL 2023

We can see the amazing growth of the trees, many of them already over 1 metre in height. With the rainy season about to begin, they will continue to thrive and new saplings continue to be planted on the site which has an estimated capacity of 6,339,000 trees needed to restore the area. Throughout this project, the reforestation teams will actively protect the site and replant any losses to ensure the native ecosystem reaches its full potential. Ultimately, many of these trees will mature, producing seeds of their own and helping the forest return to the point of natural equilibrium.


OCTOBER 2022

This reforestation site is a shared site, where many companies and individuals contribute to help restore the land and forests. From October 2021 to September 2022, through this support, the locals where able to plant 565,683 trees, which employed an average of 23 employees per month and created a total of 7,813 working days. With a steady income, the local employees can put savings aside, invest in their households, start micro-enterprises to diversify their income opportunities, and provide healthcare and everyday needs for their families. Additional significant socio-economic impacts include improved diets and health due to purchasing nutritious food and increasing education as families can afford to send their children to school.

JUNE 2022

La Vallée is a massive terrestrial reforestation site. This site is located at an altitude of 800 meters near the town of Jacmel. The community of La Vallée de Jacmel has a population of approximately 33,217 inhabitants. The population relies on agriculture, growing legumes, grains, and fruit, especially different citrus varieties, for income. It was once famous for its sweet potato production. According to reported stories, this city was once a coffee-producing basin with lush forest cover. The terrestrial reforestation program aims to reforest the area to enhance the bare land, restore its landscape, and make it more resilient. This project will contribute to increased plant coverage of the site, a higher frequency of precipitation, and improved plant species diversity.


MARCH 2022

As you can see these saplings are well on their way to becoming strong, beautiful trees and in the near future this site will start to become a thriving forest again. By working together in the fight against climate change we are truly building a more sustainable and equitable world.  This reforestation project has so many essential co-benefits such as helping to improve the communities economic situation, improving soil strength, which in turn will help water quality and restoring ecosystems. Let's keep up the great work for people and planet!

NOVEMBER 2021

The plantation managers organise and collaborate with local farmers to plant agroforestry species within the reforestation areas. They arrange the training of field staff, developing training materials, and expanding agroforestry seedling distribution to all local farmers. Agroforestry can improve the resiliency of agricultural systems and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

AUGUST 2021

Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees are grown around or among crops or pastureland. This diversification of the farming system initiates an agroecological succession, like that in natural ecosystems, and so starts a chain of events that enhance the functionality and sustainability of the farming system. Trees also produce a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits/nuts, medicines, wood products, etc. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has multiple benefits, such as greatly enhanced yields from staple food crops, enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure and health, reduced erosion, and carbon absorption.

Kenya Reforestation Updates

JANUARY 2024

As the mangroves develop and grow, we can begin to see the restoration of a strong healthy marine forest which will help in the protection of the coastline from erosion, storm surges and tsunamis. As biodiversity havens, these mangroves will again support a huge variety of plants and animals, they will also act as nurseries for young fish and even become home to honeybees.


AUGUST 2023

Thank you for helping to support Trees4Travels first mangrove reforestation project in Kenya, on the east coast of Africa. Mangroves are some of the most powerful trees on our planet, an acre of mangroves can store 5 to 10 times more carbon that an acre of rainforest, so planting and conserving these amazing forests is essential to the wellbeing of our planet and people.


More About Haiti - Caribbean

Only 1% of original forests remain in Haiti and 59% of the population live in poverty
with an additional 25% in extreme poverty.

LOCATION of REFORESTATION - Site Name: La Vallee DP, Haiti - GPS: 18°15’11.33”N, 72°39’45.10”W

The Importance of Reforestation

Haiti is one of the most environmentally degraded countries on earth. With 99% of its forests already gone, the United Nation estimates that 30% of Haiti’s remaining trees are destroyed each year. Charcoal production is a major cause of the continued deforestation of Haiti. This deforestation magnifies the effects of hurricanes and contributes to soil degradation, leaving the community with diminished natural resources.

Years of ecological devastation in Haiti have led to varying levels of crop failure, flooding, soil erosion, and water table depletion. To combat these effects, our partners work directly with community leaders to plant, protect and guard native trees to maturity. In doing so, hoping to help restore the natural environment and also implement agroforestry techniques to aid in food security.


photo

The Planting Seasons & Methods

photo

The team is utilizing a variety of planting methods including Bare Root, Cutting, Direct Seeding and Seedling Nursery.

The planting seasons:

  • Bare root: April-June & August-November
  • Direct seeding: April-June & August-November
  • Nursery: April-June & August-November

The team has primarily used bare root methods and also focus on germinating seeds in the nursery. 

Bare Root: At the onset of the rainy season, wild seedlings are harvested from healthy or remnant forests, which typically see a large influx of small seedling growth beneath the canopy. Bare root (wild) involves the gentle collection of these seedlings and quickly replanting them at an adjacent deforested area. Transferring the seedlings does not harm the healthy forest, as overcrowding and excessive shade from the canopy means only a tiny percentage of the seedlings would have survived. This planting method strategically leverages nature’s abundance.


photo
photo

During dry seasons the team collect native seeds & prepare them in the nurseries.

Traditional seedling is the process of germinating seeds in the nursery, temporarily moving them to a bag or pot until they reach maturity. When the rainy season begins the saplings are then planted in the fields - in just a few years a sustainable forest emerges.


A Few of the Tree Species being Planted

photo

Gliricidia Sepium

The species Gliricidia sepium is cultivated and used for a variety of purposes in tropical regions. The flowers of Gliricidia are edible when cooked. The whole plant is a folk remedy for various conditions such as but not limited to colds, cough, fever, headache, bruises, burns, rheumatism, ulcers, and wounds. It can also be used as a rodenticide and general pesticide. 


photo

Leucaena Leucocephala

Young leaves, pods, and flower buds are edible and usually eaten raw, steamed or mixed in soups or with rice. The seeds can also be eaten either raw or cooked, or dried then used as coffee substitute. The plant also yields edible gum used in sauces. Roasted seeds can even be used to moisturize skin. The wood is often used for its fiber, mainly to make paper.


photo

Delonix Regia

Besides its ornamental value, it is also a useful shade tree in tropical conditions, because it usually grows to a modest height (mostly 5 m or 15 ft, but it can reach a maximum height of 12 m or 40 ft) spreads widely and its dense foliage provides full shade. In areas with a marked dry season, it sheds its leaves during the drought, but in other areas it is virtually evergreen.


Our planting partner for this reforestation program is Eden Reforestation Projects. Photos have been provided by our partner.

More About Kenya, Africa

Kenya is famous for its diverse wildlife and wide range of forest types that have long supported its communities. However, in recent decades these forests have experienced extreme environmental degradation through human activities such as logging and charcoal burning.

Over 90% of Kenya has been deforested and 42% of the population live below the poverty line.Together, through our partnerships, we can help tackle poverty and deliver climate, biodiversity and local-level benefits to communities.

This mangrove reforestation project supports 10 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, helping to resolve many of the challenges and to achieve a better, more sustainable future for all. 

The Importance of Reforestation in Kenya

photo

Located on the eastern coast of Africa, the Marereni and Kurawa planting site is a degraded mangrove forest north of Malindi Town. The local people face limited freshwater, poor road connectivity, and insufficient education facilities.

Large-scale mangrove deforestation in this region results from land clearance for salt production, fuelwood, charcoal, and prawns. As a result, wild fisheries are in decline, and soil erosion threatens coastlines.A consistent income tied to sustainable land-use practices will significantly improve the overall wellbeing of this community.

Our reforestation partner hires local people to reforest their region by planting mangrove trees while stimulating economic growth, breaking the cycle of poverty, and empowering the community whilst building economic resilience. 

The reforestation site is 2,630 hectares, with a capacity of 10,000 trees per hectare with a total planting capacity of 6,500,000.

Mangroves are incredible for so many reasons, stemming from their ability to grow and thrive on the boundary of ocean and land. The trees’ unique adaptations to salinity make wherever they grow a vital haven for wildlife and an important resource for the hundreds of millions of people living near these ecosystems. Their importance to people and wildlife could not be any more clear as ever-growing impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss threaten our planet.

More About Mangroves

Mangrove species do not require nurseries. At 3-5 years of age, mangroves begin to produce and drop their own propagules (seeds), which can be used to give rise to a new tree. These propagules may be collected from existing trees or from trees previously planted.

Additionally, mangroves typically grow along coastal forests, providing an irrigation system that is largely self-sufficient.

Mangroves are planted year-round in Kenya.

Mangroves are tropical marine forests with huge potential. They protect coastlines from erosion and storm surge, tsunamis and provide food and shelter for a diverse array of wildlife, and nursery habitats for commercially important fish and shellfish.

An estimated two thirds of the fish that are eaten in Kenya spend part of their lives in the mangroves which act as their breeding and nursery grounds.

Mangrove soils are also highly effective carbon sinks.They are among the most carbon-rich tropical ecosystems globally, and can contain more carbon per square metre than tropical rainforests. On average, they store around 1,000 tons of carbon per hectare in their biomass and underlying soil.

photo

Mangrove Tree Species Planted

photo

Rhizophora Mucronata is a slow-growing, evergreen tree growing up to 27 metres tall, with a bole 50 - 70 cm in diameter. The tree produces numerous stilt roots from the base. One seed is developed per fruit & starts to germinate when the fruit is still attached or hanging on the tree. The root (radicle) gradually protrudes from the fruit, at first like a green cigar, then grows into a rod-like structure. In this species such a seedling root (hypocotyl) with a rough & warty surface may attain a considerable length (sometimes over 100 cm), the largest & longest in the genus.

photo

Avicennia Marina, also known as gray mangrove or white mangrove, is a shrub or tree belonging to the Acanthaceae family. They are generally 10–14 m long and have light gray or whitish bark with stiff, brittle, thin flakes. Their leaves are thick, glossy, and bright green on the upper side and gray or silvery white with small hairs on the lower side.


photo

Ceriops Tagal is a medium-sized tree growing to a height of 25 metres (80 ft) with a trunk diameter of up to 45 cm (18 in). The growth habit is columnar or multi-stemmed and the tree develops large buttress roots. The radiating anchor roots are sometimes exposed and may loop up in places. The bark is silvery-grey to orangeish-brown, smooth with occasional pustular lenticels. 

photo

Bruguiera Gymnorhiza has the largest leaves, flowers, propagules and lenticels of all Bruguiera species. The name Large-Leafed Orange Mangrove comes from the orange flowers and the large leaves that can reach up to 25cm in length. They grow about 20 to 25 degrees north and south of the equator in an area with subtropical to tropical climates. These conditions enable this evergreen tree to produce leaves and shoots during the whole year. The leaves have an elliptic shape, the upper side is smooth and dark green, the bottom is waxy and light green. Occasionally three or four leaves are formed simultaneously.




.


Our planting partner for this reforestation program is Eden Reforestation Projects. Photos have been provided by our partner.