1.5-minute read
Before we get down to tree business, wherever you are in the world, we hope that your new year is off to a promising start. Beaming you a gargantuan dose of good fortune in the months ahead.
If you’re a regular reader, you know we often write about how forests help support life on Earth: combating climate change, purifying air and water, enhancing well-being, providing habitat for wildlife, and food, energy, and economic security for rural communities.
Every month we share updates on the carbon capture potential of the trees that we plant in reforestation projects around the world. Because what we plant is as important as where we plant, we’d like to introduce you to some of the leafy green, multi-purpose marvels that help keep the planet in good working order:
Nile Tulip
Markhamia lutea
- Fast-growing
- Provides shade for crops
- Prevents soil erosion
- Bark and leaves used for traditional medicine
Red Silk Cotton Tree
Bombax ceiba
- Ornamental
- Restores native woodland
- Provides habitat for birds and bees
- Edible seeds, flowers, and leaves
Horse Tamarind
Leucaena leucocephala
- Drought tolerant
- Restores native woodland
- Provides human and animal nutrition
- Edible seeds, flowers, and leaves
Teak
Tectona grandis
- Fast-growing hardwood
- Used for carpentry and construction
- Provides human and animal nutrition
- Used for traditional and modern medicine
Pombeiro
Tapirira guianensis
- Big-canopied shade tree
- Provides habitat for birds and bees
- Provides human and animal nutrition
- Used for traditional medicine
Croton
Croton megalocarpus
- Fast-growing, 94% survival rate
- Provides animal nutrition
- Serves as fencing and windbreak
- Used for traditional medicine
As you can see, in addition to cooling the planet, trees are good for all manner of important, life-sustaining things. Wherever the trees we plant put down roots, they don’t just stand around looking pretty; they get to work providing local and global benefits. With your kind support, we’re glad to continue to offer them job opportunities through the Tree-Nation platform in 2023.
2022 FWP Carbon Capture Report:
The 16 species of trees we planted across 12 projects from April through December of 2022 bring our total CO2 capture to 2,365 tons. That’s equivalent to 102,360 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled, 2,616,392 pounds of coal burned, or 266,092 gallons of gasoline consumed.
