new project – hazel™

Take a look at Hazel’s first afforestation project!

Afforestation is a specific way to combat climate change–at its most simple, it’s planting a new forest in a place where trees hadn’t previously grown. This project in Uruguay, however, is so much more than that–and that’s why we’re so excited to add it into the Hazel portfolio!

This project is taking 52,000+ acres of degraded grazing land and turning it into a valuable forest resource for the local community. The land has been used for cattle grazing for generations, and in the past few decades, it has been over-grazed and damaged. Too many cattle have depleted the soils, caused increased erosion, damaged the soil quality and harmed the local watershed.

This project will reverse that damage by creating a lush, productive forest–expanding the local forest ecosystem, repairing the damage caused by grazing and improving local water and soil qualities, all while permanently capturing millions of tonnes of carbon in the process!

The forest will be a mix of pines and hardwoods, managed according to the sustainable forest management best practices as set forth by the Forest Stewardship Council. Critically, this new forest will be an economic asset to the local community–providing new jobs and opportunities in forestry for the people living in the area and giving them an incentive to protect and enhance the new ecosystem.

In total, the project is expected to capture more than 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while expanding local biodiversity, creating new economic opportunities and expanding educational opportunities in the local area. Given the size of the project, this project will also serve as a model for other, similar projects in the area–helping demonstrate how enhanced sustainability can be economically advantageous to the community too.

Afforestation, when done in a way that is sustainable and in concert with the economic interests of the local community, can be a significant component in society’s broader fight against climate change. We’re very excited to have the opportunity to work with this project–with your help, we can make it a success!

Bringing a new forest to depleted cattle lands.

Just in time for Earth Week:

We’re excited to announce our latest forestry project–planting millions of new trees in Central and Southern Kenya!

Tree planting is a classic approach to removing carbon from the atmosphere–one that we’re happy to include in our portfolio of projects. The process couldn’t be more simple: As trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, turn the carbon into wood, then respire oxygen.

Tree planting has to be done correctly though–successful tree plantings need on-going care and maintenance to ensure that the trees grow to maturity. Critically, planting also has to be done with the support of the local community to protect the newly planted forests for the long-haul. The impact of the trees is undone if they die before reaching their full size, or if someone cuts them down.

That’s why we’re so excited to offer this project, run by The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program (TIST). TIST works with local smallhold farmers to teach them about the economic value of trees and how to care for them correctly. By ensuring that trees are an economic benefit to the local community, TIST creates an environment where trees are valued, protected and cared for as a critical local asset–in addition to being of benefit to the planet! We think this is a great approach to reforestation projects, and we’re excited to support their work in Kenya through Hazel!

Currently, more than 94,000 farmers in Kenya are working with TIST–an incredible local base of support! These farmers form 13,800 Small Groups, which work together to oversee and support their mutual planting efforts.

The results have already been impressive! Already this project is responsible for almost 13,000,000 new tress–and have planted recently more than 5,600,000 seedlings. Each of these trees, at maturity, will capture multiple tonnes of carbon, directly removing the carbon from the atmosphere that causes climate change. It’s a huge impact!

In addition to the impact on climate change and the economic benefit, the trees being planted have a significant impact on the local environment–from helping prevent erosion and runoff during the rainy seasons to improving the soil quality by generating leaf litter (and in some cases, directly fixing nitrogen into the soil).

By supporting this project with Hazel, you’ll enable this project to:

Sequester more than 2,800 tonnes of carbon annually
Capture atmospheric carbon in newly planted forests
Provide an economic opportunity for local farmers (through fruit, nut and other resource harvesting)
Improve local soil quality and biodiversity

Reforestation (replanting trees where they once grew) and afforestation (growing new trees in new locations) are significant nature-based solutions for climate change. We’ve been looking for a project that met our standards for impact while also having an impact on the local community, and we found it in this project.

We’re excited to add this project to our portfolio of projects in Hazel–we hope it’s one of your favorites too!