Every one of WLT’s partners and projects is unique. Our reforestation programme has fundamental principles that ensure that native species are planted, supporting conservation and creation of a wildlife-rich habitat, will benefit local communities, reconnect forest areas, and store carbon.

Reforestation projects may include ‘active restoration’ through planting out tree seedlings as well as assisted natural regeneration.

Ongoing care is vital in the first years after planting and partners clear all surrounding grasses and other competing vegetation to enhance tree survival rates.

The process begins, in many reserves, with the collection of seeds to raise in the reserve’s nursery.

A mix of native pioneer species are selected. Each project balances tree species that are quick to establish, coping well in competition against invasive grasses, with slower-growing trees offering a high biodiversity value.

Saplings are nurtured, with careful monitoring to ensure successful establishment. World Land Trust ensure that any trees that do not survive are replaced.

Many trees grow quickly – fruiting species will provide food for wildlife within a couple of years, not only providing nutrition but also encouraging species back to areas that have suffered deforestation, restoring the biodiversity essential to a healthy natural world.

Many tree planting projects fail because there is no strict maintenance and monitoring in place once the sapling is in the ground. To secure long-term, successful reforestation, World Land Trust is committed to supporting the labour-intensive, time-consuming (and often costly) maintenance of reforested landscapes.

Every one of WLT’s Plant a Tree partners implement comprehensive maintenance and monitoring to ensure that saplings grow well for at least ten years, after which the trees are mature enough to see a reduction in natural mortality, allowing the Plant a Tree forests to flourish.