An Overview Of Our Solution
Our world is in an ecological crisis. It is time for a new paradigm shift. The TreeSisters movement exists to bring forth collective responsibility in returning our planet to its natural state. TreeSisters is a global network led by women who restore forests as a collective expression of planetary care. As a feminine leadership and reforestation organization, we exist to call forth the brilliance and generosity of people everywhere and channel it towards the trees. Reforesting can help to reduce the amount of CO2 in the air because trees absorb CO2 and other harmful greenhouse gases. A single young tree can absorb 26 pounds of CO2 per year. In 2018, TreeSisters funds the planting of over 2.2 million trees annually in Kenya, Madagascar, Brazil, and India and is growing to mobilize grassroots members and partners to plant 1 billion trees annually.
- Population Impacted: 7000
- Continent: Africa
Last name
Organization type
Context Analysis
Our behaviour change programs build relationships between women in their local communities and build connections with a wider global network online. The women's circles are designed to foster feminine and nature-based leadership, support health and wellbeing and strengthen community connection across age and gender. They encourage women to come together to connect with nature, plant trees, build community and connect with local reforestation projects.
For an example in one of our 8 planting projects at Kalamboro in Madagascar When Restoring the mangrove system in Kalamboro, Madagascar (Eden), TS impacted about 250 households, and provided full-year employment to 26 female heads of household or approximately 10% of Kalamboro’s village population - resulting in about 161 women and their dependent children being lifted out of extreme poverty.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
We provide: a portfolio of planting projects that are diverse and educational including forest corridors, agro forestry, mangroves, cloud forest, watershed restoration and critically endangered species protection Our due diligence process provides assurance of high caliber planting with monitoring, evaluation and reporting. Our gender focus is in line with project DrawDowns recognition of the role of women. We are unique in our consciousness shift approach and we recognise that the issues we face are beyond behavioural and that they are rooted in cultural norms and assumptions that need to be examined. Key success factors are funding to allow us to build a movement of women whereby are organisation is self-sustaining.
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
Our remit is the normalization of grassroots global giving to forest restoration to counteract increasing rates of tropical deforestation (39 million acres lost in 2017) We are growing a global women’s movement with a unique focus on consciousness shift, and women’s role in activating and promoting change. We believe that women are able to step into leadership and take action when they are in a supportive community, where they are nourished and where hope for a better future is reinforced. Our goal is to support humanities shift from a consumer species to a restorer species whilst we still have an environment to restore. TreeSisters seeks to encourage embodied action. We believe that it is necessary to feel the impact of our isolation from the environment and the choices that we make in our daily lives before as women we can take action. Our tool called the map of five choices is a process tool that engages women in 5 separate processes, that are both linear and exist on their own or in combination to spark enquiry into why we make the choices that we do in our lives and how we can change those choices so that they are life affirming rather than detrimental to life. We do not have scientific evidence that our map works however we are gathering impact data and qualitative stories with the women who are engaging with us and we are already witnessing and recording impacts on behaviour. Our map gives women the courage and support to act courageously on behalf of life.
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
The five processes are: REVEAL we let go of our old identity so that life can teach us who and what we really are. We set out to access life’s limitless intelligence, in doing so we begin to redefine who we are and to become aware of the change needed. To EMBRACE where we ask the question who could we be if we felt really unconditionally loved and accepted, and supported by our community? We explore what is needed to move beyond judgment and separation. Then to EMBODY where we choose to experience our indivisibility from Nature and to feel and liberate the fear and grief around climate change and planetary destruction. We experience intimacy with Nature as a gateway to our own power to create planetary change. From this place we can move towards ACTIVATION and finally to SHINE where we feel able to bring our gifts to the world and be a catalyst for change.
Describe your implementation
We provide: a portfolio of planting projects that are diverse and educational including forest corridors, agro forestry, mangroves, cloud forest, watershed restoration and critically endangered species protection Our due diligence process provides assurance of high caliber planting with monitoring, evaluation and reporting. Our gender focus is in line with project DrawDowns recognition of the role of women. We are unique in our consciousness shift approach and we recognise that the issues we face are beyond behavioural and that they are rooted in cultural norms and assumptions that need to be examined. Key success factors are funding to allow us to build a movement of women whereby are organisation is self sustaining. Our major obstacle has been providing affordable technical solutions to reach women worldwide via an internet hub. We continually outgrow the technical solutions we have put in place. As a network led organisation we are often faced with numerous solutions and activities that require prioritisation and funding. We overcome these issues by engaging support and by initiating partnerships with other organisations.
External connections
Our tree planting partners include Eden Projects, WeForest, International Tree Foundation and ISHA project. We are supported with the administration and financial support to enable global donations by Green America, Charities Aid Foundation Canada and the Rainforest Information Centre Australia. We partner with complimentary women’s organizations such as World Pulse who use technology to connect and empower women to find their voice. We reinforce and support each other’s missions with cross promotions and member nourishment.
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
We are a grassroots organisation so we are looking for a change of behaviours amongst our network. We are working with the network to collect data about network led activities and behaviour outcomes. An example of outcomes is a TreeSister in Uganda who has initiated a local planting project through our women’s circle project and is now planting 50,000 seedlings locally. We also have a woman in Sweden who has set up a choir to raise money for reforestation, and another member in Glastonbury UK who initiated a public tree conference last November. There are numerous outcomes which are as diverse as the women but they all have reforestation and life-affirming activity at the centre of them. We support women to make changes in their local communities that are also relevant to their community.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Currently, we have planted 2.75 million trees and through our monthly members will fund a further 2.5 million trees per annum which grows exponentially with our network.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
We support projects that utilize agro-forestry to bring intercropping and tree husbandry into agriculture (oil, nuts, pepper etc) and that lower vulnerability to climate variability (floods, storm surge, landslide exposure).
We search for projects that improve surrounding activities or small-scale forest use. For instance, fishing, gathering (honey, medicinal plants), hunting, agricultural production, water quality, customary activities) We also support project that grows community forests that focus community responsibility, ownership and pride; engage multiple sectors of society; focus on empowering women and redressing gender equality and that do not have huge corporate support, but that pass our due-diligence process.
Sustainability
Member based monthly donations provide ongoing sustainability for the organisation and our tree planting projects. We currently rely on grant funding and funding from high net worth individuals for organisational core costs and movement building, until we build our movement to 26,000 monthly members.
Return on investment
Our return on investment is for every £1 donated, 84p goes toward our charitable activities, 41% towards reforestation and 43% towards our consciousness shift and women’s activities. As our membership grows our planting activity will grow alongside it as 80% of all member funds goes towards tree planting, 10% towards our other charitable activities and 10% towards core costs and fundraising. At 26,000 members giving at our current monthly donation average we are able to plant 1 million trees per month and be fully self sustaining as an organisation.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
TreeSisters is an experimental activity and its change tools and methodology could be replicated with regional hubs as opposed to one International entity. We are considering engaging with the corporate sector and with a broader range of partners. This would require further funding and additional training and materials tailored to the regional needs.