Good practice:

Community supported afforestation

The number of forests on the planet ideally should be doubled as one of the main reasons for global warming is that two-thirds of the forests have disappeared since the industrial revolution, therefore more actions should be taken to tackle this issue.

The MyForest community forests initiative established a platform to organize environmentally conscious businesses and individuals in creating new forests thus contributing to recovering biodiversity losses and mitigating climate change impacts, while offering an experience of charity to the donors.

MyForest acts as a connecting platform bringing together ordinary citizens who are concerned about the climate and intend to contribute to the common goal by planting trees; businesses seeking to participate in planting forests or binding their purchases to tree planting, and landowners who contribute to the project by offering their lands.

Those who are interested in afforestation can buy any number of saplings, just like in a Web Shop. Donors are displayed on the MyForest website and they also receive a logo to use it as a badge of honour. As soon as there are enough donations to fully afforest a specific area, the plantation commences involving volunteers and donors
The donors that are directly or indirectly paid for the renewal or restoration of a specific ecosystem service can gain knowledge about forests, a sense of charity, and an increased attachment to forests, especially those who participate in the planting of

The cost of a tree (1,6 €) was calculated considering the following factors:
• cost of the land;
• land works;
• temporary fencing;
• cost of the saplings, transportation and planting;
• everyone works as a volunteer in the foundation, however, the contributions should cover the operating costs

The degree of afforestation and the number of new forests is growing, even further plantings are already funded, future locations are already selected and launched due to the high demand from donors.
In 2019-2020, 75.226 trees were planted resulting in 3 new forests (3,55 hectares in total) owing to more than 1500 individual and 150 company, and organizational contributions.

Everyone in the MyForest team works as a volunteer in the foundation, which can be questionable in the long run. Regarding the land to become afforested currently only free offers are accepted, but the team is working on the legal ways to lease land.

The MyForest initiative can be deployed easily in other countries, as willing participants and environmentally conscious individuals are easy to find. Project management, efficient approach and transparency, good communication are key elements that should be addressed by those who would like to adopt such approach. Due to the top-down nature of the project, even government agencies, regional or municipal governments can initiate similar projects. Focusing on several target groups at once also contributes to reaching a critical mass, where the results are clearly visible from a numerous perspective as well.