Make a Difference
Support our latest fundraiser to lead the most biodiverse tree plant in East African History.
100% of your donation goes directly to our project in Kenya to help protect this planet and educate future generations.
In the first project of its kind, LEAF is working in partnership with Pwani University to plant and protect indigenous trees around fragments of ancient forest sites called relics. These relics are incredibly important to the future of this region, as currently 96% of native trees have been lost to monoculture plantations and farming.
Using research and expertise, LEAF has begun by employing local graduates and implementing a tree nursery on the University grounds. From here, we are planting trees close to relic sites and educating local people on how to protect these rare tree species and why they are so good at storing carbon.
By developing our nursery, we hope to build a fully functioning, self-regenerating ecosystem where the planted trees add to the forest and naturally replenish themselves. We are choosing and planting the right trees so we can use this reforested area as a tree bank, from which seeds and cuttings can be sustainably harvested for future projects.
Our work is a win for the environment as we are planting native tree species over time to ensure the projects long-term success in the face of climate change. This is something that the majority of tree planting organisations fail to do, leading to high death rates and failed projects which can actually lead to an increase in atmospheric carbon and losses to biodiversity.
We are saving species that are going extinct by planting in a region of Kenya that is right in the heart of the East African Coastal Forests, one of only 25 regions globally designated as a biodiversity hotspot. This area has species of global conservation value.
Our team on the ground consists of nursery managers, coordinators and community liaison officers. Our partnership with Pwani University has provided a platform for young people to become local leaders within the community and we hope they will become trailblazers for the future of local conservation and restoration.
During National Tree Week 2020, we are able to reflect back on the work that has been undertaken by LEAF to allow us to reach this point. We are proud to be a charity made up of youthful and passionate trustees, advised by academia with a clear strategy and a wealth of restoration ecology knowledge. We are determined and energetic, full of ideas and single-minded in our need to do good for this planet. As we are a young and ambitious charity, we would like you to contribute to our work and grow with us.
We have begun planting our first trees during Kenya’s rainy season and we are now looking to increase our nursery size through a series of renovations which will cost £3000. We have invested predominately in local employment and with your kind donation, we will be able to make our restoration projects a success. Our new nursery will support endangered tree species and allow us to save them from extinction.
This project is the start of something magnificent in coastal Kenya, where reforestation sites will be protected and local people will collaborate to ensure stewardship into the future. The carbon that is stored in these relict sites is huge and as the relicts expand through our restoration efforts, the number of species that will be able to rely on them are symbols of hope for our planet’s future.
Please help us to secure our mission by donating!
Thank You.
