Highlights

I have a very personal connection with the forests that flank Mount Kenya and their exceptional wildlife: I grew up in the village of Kangema, driving my father’s cattle between the fields and the Aberdare Forest to graze. Father would warn us of the dangers of being trampled by elephants – 3,000 of them roam the bush there, along with remnant populations of black rhino and a vibrant array of bird species, including the endangered Sharpe’s longclaw and threatened Chapin’s flycatcher.

Local communities in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands are involved in a forest restoration project aimed at protecting fresh water supplies, reforesting degraded areas and creating sustainable supplies of timber and fuelwood. Key to the project’s success will be the accurate monitoring of all trees planted to ensure that the newly planted seedlings survive and flourish – and this is being done through a mobile app.

Can you regenerate a rainforest with a cup of tea? That’s what Trillion Trees’ partner, BirdLife International is achieving in the heart of South America, with Fabiana Benítez of Guyra Paraguay at the centre.    I knew when I was five years old that I wanted to be involved in biodiversity. I grew up in the city, but what I really loved was swimming in the village springs at my grandmother’s house, surrounded by birdsong, or learning from my father how to fish for our dinner and harvest honey. 

After an inspiring World Environment Day (5 June), which officially launched the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and our recent focus on reasons for hope, we can’t resist talking about two of our amazing restoration projects. We’re also sharing news about what else has been happening with Trillion Trees Partners this year; our research study showing that forests can and do regrow if we let them; and a special story on how partner efforts aren’t just

By John Lotspeich, Executive Director, Trillion Trees   If you follow the news headlines about forest degradation, it’s easy to despair. But the first four years of Trillion Trees have shown there are reasons to hope — perhaps even 20 billion reasons, as our Executive Director John Lotspeich explains.

It's not all bad news:  Our new research shows that a total area of forests equivalent to the size of France have regrown in the last 20 years. Nearly 59 million hectares of forests – an area larger than mainland France– has regrown since 2000, according to new analysis from Trillion Trees.

From working to connect 450,000 hectares of forest fragments to protect endangered species in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, to planting tens of thousands of indigenous tree seedlings to restore Mount Kenya's forest, Trillion Trees has gone from strength to strength in its first four years. Since 2016, Trillion Trees partners have been supporting the protection of more than 18.3 billion trees and the restoration of over 1.8 billion trees.  

In recognition of this year’s launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, we’re celebrating some of our amazing restoration projects. Despite the challenges that 2020 presented, our partners continued the hard work to deliver the right trees in the right places. Although the stories in this update highlight the inspirational restoration work of the partners, in many landscapes there are also additional projects underway to protect standing forests.

Deep in one of Africa’s oldest rainforests, researchers have hit upon a simple, effective solution to historical forest degradation that’s posed a decades-long problem to nature, people and climate – and implemented it, even during a pandemic. The best solutions are usually the simplest.

BMW Group, Tetra Pak and Schüco International Express Concerns About Sourcing Aluminium from Ghana’s Irreplaceable Atewa Forest

In a new commentary for Scientific American, WCS’s Lauren Oakes investigates the big question: What is the real cost of tree planting?

Trillion Trees is delighted to have been selected as an official Nominator for the prestigious Earthshot Prize.  The Prize was developed to search the world and identify solutions to repair our planet. There are five Earthshots, with one winner in each category receiving £1,000,000 to continue and scale their work. 

There is no silver bullet, but there is one solution staring us in the face right now, available to us right now, and actionable right now: protect and restore the forests that keep our planet healthy.

Trillion Trees is delighted to announce the appointment of John Lotspeich as its Executive Director. John joins Trillion Trees at a pivotal time in providing a voice for the critical role of forests in that struggle, and scaling up community-based solutions worldwide. 

This Earth Day, the planet is getting a bit more breathing space than it has had for a long time. With the change in our normal lives, air pollution is down and people are seeing wildlife reclaiming some spaces. For many of us, our lives are rightly dominated by short-term priorities, such as caring for ourselves, our loved ones, and those in need.

An investment boost for the future of forest conservation Trillion Trees has invested in teams behind bold forest landscape programmes from Paraguay to Indonesia, helping them access the knowledge and space to create new, sustainable funding models.  It's a game-changer for forest conservation. Find out more about this year's cohort and landscapes  

Statement from Trillion Trees 22 January 2020  

Trillion Trees is joining with the Daily Mirror for the Mirror’s Million Trees campaign, where they are calling on readers to help raise funds to plant a million trees in East Africa and the Amazon. The joint initiative was announced on 14 November 2019, and will continue for the next five years. Countries of focus include Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Peru, and Columbia.

In a momentous win for conservation, Colombia’s Serranía de Chiribiquete was officially expanded to 10.6 million acres today, making it the world’s largest protected tropical rain forest national park. It was also declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site in recognition of its “outstanding universal value” for nature and people.

The environmental effects of poorly planned and managed palm oil are now very well-known. Another major global commodity that grows in similar climes is natural rubber, with vast rubber tree plantations found throughout the tropics, particularly in South-East Asia.