Why do you plant trees and mangroves? 🌳
Trees are the superheroes of the planet. Apart from being the most effective CO2 absorbers we have, trees help mitigate climate change, restart water cycles, stop deserts from spreading, and turn barren grounds back into fertile soil.
We are also working with Eden Reforestation Projects to restore mangrove forests. Mangroves are real stars in the fight against climate change - a mangrove forest will sequester 72,000 tonnes of C02 than any other forest of the same size! They also protect coastlines from flooding, and protect baby fish!
How do you plant trees?
Treecard plants trees and mangroves by sending funds to our multiple planting partners, including Ecosia, Eden Reforestation Projects, and Instituto Espinhaço.
What trees do you plant? 🌴
At each of our partner's reforestation sites, they work with native species in order to restore the natural situation that existed before. There are occasional exceptions, such as planting non-invasive fruit or nut trees alongside native trees in agroforestry systems to provide income and food for local communities.
Where do you plant your trees? 🌎
Ecosia
Ecosia supports over 20 tree-planting projects in 15+ countries, including Peru, Brazil, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Haiti, Colombia, Spain, Morocco, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Indonesia.
A tree-planter from Kijani Forestry (Ecosia partner) in December 2022. Learn more Ecosia's work in Uganda here.
In each of these countries, Ecosia works with local partners who are able to monitor the trees on the ground.
Eden Reforestation Projects
Eden Reforestation Projects operates 150 planting sites in over 8 different countries, including Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nepal, the Philippines, Honduras, and Brazil. For mangroves, they are mainly planting in Mozambique and Madagascar. 🌱
In each of these countries, Eden connects with local communities, financially and educationally empowering them to restore and protect their own forests for generations to come.
Instituto Espinhaço:
Instituto Espinhaço maintains 10 different projects in southeast Brazil. Each project nurses trees until they are ready to plant in the ground. 🌱
A nursery worker at Instituto Espinhaço in September 2022. Learn more about Instituto Espinhaço here.
Once a tree is mature enough to plant, Instituto Espinhaço plants it in places it's needed most, whether that's reforesting parts of the Amazon razed by agriculture or along rivers in the mountains to prevent erosion and purify water 💧.
What tree-planting methods do you use? 👩🌾
When planting trees, we need to make sure the new forest ecosystem can function properly. Ecosia only plants trees in deforested areas where historically there have been trees – often in the shape of a forest, but that could also mean widespread savannah trees.
How do you make money to plant trees? 💵
Every time you purchase one of our product rewards, we receive a small kickback from our partners, which we use to plant trees. Additionally, you can opt-in to funding our tree-planting projects directly through our Chip-In and Round-Up programs.
Whenever you make a purchase using your Treecard Debit Card, Mastercard collects what’s called an interchange fee from the merchant for processing your payment. A portion of this interchange fee is then paid out to Treecard, and we use this revenue to plant trees.