Collaborations With Purpose
“The Future Is Not Random. Its Design Depends On Our Decisions”
-Fernando Mattos at COP29
Thank you for deciding to join TREES in this important work.
If we want a better world then we must build it.
Together, your support is making that possible.
At Trees for the Future, our work goes beyond planting trees it is about restoring landscapes and transforming lives. Since 1989, our organization has empowered farmers in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities through sustainable agroforestry.
By providing training, resources, and support, we help communities establish Forest Gardens, a proven approach that restores degraded land, improves food security, and creates economic opportunities.
Thanks to the support of corporate partners like you, we have planted over 400 million trees and helped thousands of families break the cycle of poverty while combating climate change. Your commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility has been instrumental in making this impact possible.
This report highlights the incredible progress we have achieved together over the past year and showcases how your contributions continue to drive lasting environmental and social change. Together we are growing a greener, more sustainable future for generations to come.
404M+
Total trees planted.
527k
Lives changed.
142k+
Acres restored.
60K+
Forest gardens planted.
UN Recognizes TREES
One of our crowning achievements of 2024 was being recognized as a UN World Restoration Flagship partner. The award recognizes TREES as one of the best examples of largescale and long-term ecosystem restoration in any country or region, embodying the 10 Principles for Restoration. The World Restoration Flagship
awards are part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – led by the (UNEP) and the (FAO) – which aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. As a World Restoration Flagship, TREES is now eligible for technical and financial UN support.
We are honored to receive such a prestigious award from UNEP and FAO. Partnerships like the one we have developed with the UN Flagship team are key to expanding our work to not only combat climate change but also improve the lives of the farmers we partner with.
Tim McLellan, TREES CEO.
Impact Numbers
64,489 147,980 18,445 44,005 21,549 6,549 18,150 1,505 5,718 1,067 7,266,360 19,287,869 972,492 12,976,620 2,012,956
KENYA UGANDA
TANZANIA
MALI SENEGAL
The Forest Garden Approach
Design
TREES has been training farmers in the Forest Garden Approach (FGA) for over a decade. The FGA uses agroforestry and sustainable farming practices to protect land, diversify crops, and optimize space.
Farmers are trained over a four-year period, and TREES provides all the seeds, tools and materials needed. Through the FGA, farmers plant thousands of trees that protect and bring nutrients back to the soil and make the farmer more resilient to climate change-related weather patterns like drought or flooding.
As their soil health improves, farmers grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, which in turn increases both income and food security.
Above you will see an example of a Forest Garden design outline. This is a key step early in the FGA process. Working with TREES staff, each farmer creates a design, planning around their family’s nutritional needs first, and then considering local market demands. Every farm is unique and suited to the land it is on.
Changes occur quickly, and where once there were only one or two harvests per year, soon dozens of nutritional food crops are thriving.
Before
Birds-Eye View
After
The Forest Garden Approach
Process
Mobilization:
Mobilization is the first step. Stakeholder meetings, community meetings, farmer group formation and farmer registration events are all implemented in a way to ensure TREES is creating longterm relationships built on equity, trust, and shared goals. This foundation is a vital step, as farmers can be assured of their own pivotal role on the path to success and resilience.
Implementation:
Implementation is the heart of the project and involves three phases: Protection, Diversification, and Optimization, each building on the previous step. Farmers are trained in various subjects over the course of 4 years, starting with the most foundational principles of the Forest Garden Approach and moving toward optimization and planning for the future.
See an example of a training schedule on the next page.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
The TREES monitoring process ensures and authenticates that farmers are succeeding and provides resources for those farmers who need additional assistance. This includes the monitoring of training modules and attendance, adoption of practices, trees grown in nurseries and planted on site, technical support and mentoring.
4 Year Training Framework
Healthy Land, Healthy Lives
Healthy soil
The thousands of trees planted in each forest garden restore land by protecting and revitalizing soil.
More food
Healthy soil means a sustainable foundation for more fruits and vegetables to grow. The forest garden approach also teaches farmers how to grow a variety (12+) of different types of crops to eat and sell.
More money
More variety in a forest garden means farmers have more to sell, more often. this increase in income improves their ability to save for the future too.
Health care
4 5
Nutrition
Food security means more access to nutrition. Thanks to increased dietary diversity, farming families are seeing massive increase in critical vitamins and nutrients.
Increases in income mean farmers can have access to health care and medicine. 6 7 8 9
Improved living
With more money, farmers are able to purchase home necessities, send their kids to school, open new businesses, and plan for the future.
All of this leads to a healthier environment for us all through engaged communities, restored landscapes, increase in biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. 1 2 3
Resilience
Climate-smart practices help protect farming families from the challenges and dangers of extreme weather.
Food security
More money means food on the table at every meal. Farmers no longer worry about feeding their families thanks lo continuous growth in their backyards and the ability to buy additional food outside of the forest garden.
Environment
Number Of
Trees You Have Planted
2024 planted Trees
300,000
Lifetime Carbon Sequestered Estimate (in MT over 20 years)
175,823
3,902,396 Lifetime Tree Count
Country Profile
Uganda
Uganda
Uganda, known as the "Pearl of Africa," is rich in landscapes and cultural diversity, home to over 70 ethnic groups.
The TREES team supports farmer projects in Uganda's southeast, including the Mount Elgon, Busia, and Busoga districts. In these areas farmers face issues of floods and landslides brought on by intense rains, made worse by unsustainable farming practices, deforestation, and monocropping of short-rooted crops like banana and sugarcane.
The Forest Garden Approach teaches farmers how to diversify and protect their land, with an emphasis on perennial and soil-stabilizing trees and crops that promote stronger ecosystems, rural economies, and climate resilience.
Eco Eyewear Uganda North
Bushika Co-op
Eco Eyewear Impact
150,000 Trees Funded per Project
Number of Farmers trained based on 2024 donation
60
480 Beneficiaries
250 Farming Families in the project
44% / 56% Men/Women Ratio in the project
Bushika Co-op Uganda
Eco Eyewear Uganda South
Busoga 1
Your Projects in Uganda
Uganda: Meet Justine
Since joining TREES, Justine from Busia has transformed her life in powerful ways.
Before she started the TREES Training Program in 2020, she followed a typical approach to farming. She grew and relied on just two crops to provide for her family all year long. But it was not enough.
With training and support from local TREES staff, Justine and her neighbors learned how to establish and maintain Forest Gardens on their own land. Now her garden is thriving, and with her family enjoying healthier meals, her children are happier than ever.
I used to think a balanced diet was only for the rich, but now I know it’s for knowledgeable farmers.
-Justine
Today Justine has nearly 4,000 trees growing in her Forest Garden and over a dozen plant species. At any given time, she has seven food crops and 38 marketable products on which she can rely. Her garden not only feeds her family but also earns her 120,000 shillings weekly, allowing her to invest in livestock for more income and to secure a brighter future. Read her inspiring story on our blog here.
A Personal Note from our CEO
On behalf of everyone at Trees for the Future, thank you for your partnership and contribution to our mission. As a long-term supporter, know that you are a critical partner helping us meet commitments to farmers year-in and year-out.
We are proud to connect you with our farming partners in a relationship of shared value, bringing increased resilience for farm families and results that you can proudly share with your customers and governance bodies.
As the role that government plays in creating impact across the world evolves, the effort of the private sector has never been more critical. Thank you for working with us to address these pressing issues.
Later this year we will unveil our plans for a new era of impact at TREES. These strategies will expand the ways in which we can create impact together, from forest garden creation and improved prosperity for farmers to verified carbon credits to support your environmental goals.
We look forward to sharing these plans with you. Together, we are making a significant difference, and I look forward to all that we can accomplish in the years ahead. Thank you again for your commitment to our mission and for being a vital part of our journey.
Warm regards,
Tim McLellan Chief Executive Officer Trees for the Future