Thanks to our members Play It Green has now planted close to 5000 new trees in our first two months.
Our trees are planted across three sites in North-West Madagascar, an island bigger than the UK that is renowned for having a diverse set of animals and plants, having been undisturbed by humans for millennia.
Human settlers only colonised Madagascar around 500AD, a staggering 300,000 years after the Homo-sapiens appeared in Africa.
Only 10% of the islands original forests remain today due to widespread deforestation. The destruction of healthy forest systems causes so many severe problems such as soil erosion, disappearance of mangrove estuaries, degraded ecosystems and local communities unable to farm the land for their livelihoods.
Your funds assist the Eden Reforestation Project, to bring back forest vitality supporting the ecosystem and local communities.
The project supports and trains individuals from Vilamatsa community to plant and manage mangrove and upland forests, offering long-term employment, gender equality and livelihood improvements. The trees provide essential habitats for animals, purify water sources, control flooding, absorb carbon dioxide and replenish soils with nutrients needed for farming.
Our three tree planting sites in Madagascar are:
Antsanitia Site:
Coordinates: 15°37’13.22”S, 46°26’11.29”E
Visit the site on Google Earth
Akalamboro Site
Coordinates: 16°12’16.94”S, 44°55’4.13”E
Visit the site on Google Earth
Vilamatsa Site
Coordinates: 16°16’17.09”S, 44°26’47.66”E
Visit the site on Google Earth
Due to this being our inaugural year, Play It Green purchase the trees every quarter and this will move to monthly in 2022. So for this tree planting report we have no new purchase receipts to publish. See previous purchase receipt
One question you may be asked by friends and family is:
How do you know the trees won’t be cut down and how do you know they are protected?
Well rest assured as every effort is made to ensure the forest we plant becomes permanent and sustainable.
Our tree planting partner Eden Reforestation:
- 1. Work with governments to secure written agreements that designate the sites as protected in perpetuity (which means forever).
- 2. Do not plant in logging areas.
- 3. Hire locals to plant the trees to provide employment and a sense of “ownership” over the trees.
- 4. Provide locals with alternative fuel sources such as solar parabolic stoves to reduce and/or eliminate their dependence on charcoal.
- 5. Hire forest guards as part of the labour force. Indeed one cent of the price of each tree is put into a Forest Guard Endowment Fund to ensure the long term guarding and protection of sites.
- 6. Most significantly, we have seen the locals fall in love with their forest as it leads to improved fisheries, farming, cleaner water and new business enterprises.
“Every tree makes a difference and the benefits go way beyond just that of removing carbon from the atmosphere. We are so proud of the work being undertaken and these reports are an integral part of ensuring we bring our Play It Green values to life: openness, togetherness and being customer led” Chris Thair, Play It Green, Cofounder
If you want to offset your footprint through reforestation and receive weekly sustainable tips to take a gentle journey to a brighter future please join Play It Green today by clicking here
