Organisations to Support

Support one or more of the organisations working to protect and restore forests.  

Examples:

International 

International Tree Foundation

International Tree Foundation (ITF), the world’s oldest tree charity, works with grassroots organisations and communities in Africa and the UK to increase global tree cover and reforestation, improve livelihoods, educate and build capacity for community-based forestry and agroforestry. ITF’s work in Africa has touched many parts of the continent, working with both large-scale reforestation programmes – on Mount Kenya and Mount Bamboutos in Cameroon – and smaller-scale, community-focused projects.  At the heart of all their work is the support and empowerment of local groups to grow trees in ways that make sense in their communities and landscapes: restoring degraded forests and water catchments, planting trees on farms and around schools, engaging and educating children, and improving livelihoods and quality of life. As they approach their 100th anniversary, it is estimated they are responsible for the establishment of 27 billion trees.
www.internationaltreefoundation.org

Rainforest Concern

Rainforest Concern has helped to protect over 2.2 million hectares of native forests, the biodiversity they contain and the communities who depend on them for their survival.  In their 25 years they have worked with 21 partner organisations and eight indigenous tribes across thirteen countries. Current priorities include the expansion of the Neblina Reserve (see appeal), a biodiversity-rich tropical montane cloud forest reserve in the threatened forests of north west Ecuador. In Colombia, they are supporting a partner NGO, Gaia Amazonas, on a visionary project in the Amazon basin to secure ecosystem connectivity in the region north of the Amazon river from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. In India, Rainforest Concern work with the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary to conserve the plants and restore the ecosystem of the threatened Western Ghats. Visit Rainforest Concern’s website to see the full range of projects, including Peru, Chile, Romania, Belize and Costa Rica.
www.rainforestconcern.org

Tree Aid

Tree Aid is a charity set up by foresters in 1987 to help people in the drylands of Africa to lift themselves out of poverty and protect their environment.  Local teams work in partnership with rural communities to plant and protect trees to provide nutrition, generate income and slow down the effects of climate change.  Their efforts have already helped more than 1.3 million people with more than 17 million trees planted.  Current projects include participation in the Great Green Wall in partnership with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).  Targets for 2017-2022 are to grow over 8 million trees, help to lift 2.5 million people out of poverty and restore over 250,000 hectares of degraded land.
www.treeaid.org.uk

World Land Trust

World Land Trust, set up in 1989, was a pioneer in buying threatened land for conservation in Belize.   Since then, it has worked with 30 overseas partners to create locally managed reserves in twenty countries spanning Central and Latin America, Kenya, Zambia, India, Malaysia Borneo, Vietnam, Armenia and the UK.  More than 770,000 acres of tropical forest and other threatened habitat has been protected with its support. It is currently raising funds to rejuvenate 247 acres (c100 hectares) of landscape degraded and deforested during the Vietnam War.  New buy an acre projects include extension of the Jaguar del Norte Reserve in Mexico, a lease expanding the buffer zone for Kasanka National Park in Zambia and expansion of the El Silencio Reserve in Colombia.  
www.worldlandtrust.org/ 

Other key organisations and initiatives:

UK

Friends of the Earth UK

Friends of the Earth UK is campaigning to double tree cover in the UK – just 13% of the UK’s total land area has tree cover compared to an EU average of 35%.  Sign their  petition, read their briefing Finding the Land to Double Tree Cover and support their campaign. See also their top tips to help climate and nature.

https://friendsoftheearth.uk/trees

International Tree Foundation

International Tree Foundation (see also work in Africa above) works across the UK to provide support to local organisations and tree-planting projects. In October 2019 they started working with five new organisations in Oxfordshire and Hampshire, helping to fund community-led tree-planting projects, including two orchards, a “food forest”, and mixed woodland restoration. 
www.internationaltreefoundation.org

Woodland Trust

Woodland Trust, the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, has planted more than 43 million trees in the UK since it was set up in 1972, protected thousands of woods and restored more than 34,000 hectares of ancient woodland.  Sign up for their Big Climate Fightback campaign pledge calling on one million people to pledge to plant a tree to help fight the climate emergency.  The Woodland Trust also operates a programme providing free trees for communities and schools.
www.woodlandtrust.org.uk

Other organisations helping to protect and restore woodland and natural habitats:

Please note Positive Nature has no formal affiliation with these organisations