Community Tree Planting
Helping small communities replant trees so they can counter the effects of poverty, deforestation, and harmful carbon emissions.
Reduced:
CO2
Carbon DioxideWhat it does

The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program (TIST) is a combined reforestation and sustainable development project. The project works with small groups of poor farmers to replant trees which counters the devastating effects of deforestation, poverty and drought. Since TIST’s inception in 1999, they have helped plant over 18 million trees in Tanzania, India, Kenya, and Uganda.
How it works
TIST members are subsistence farmers and participate voluntarily. As a grassroots initiative, the farmers form small groups of 6 to 12 farmers. They are provided access to training that allows them to build on their own best practices which are then shared with the other 9,000 groups. These small groups benefit from a new income source: the sale of carbon credits that result from the sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere in the biomass of the trees and soil. This program incentivizes other individuals to join causing more carbon to be sequestered.
Benefits
- Reforestation and careful monitoring of tree survival and health
- Increased crop yields that provide food security
- Diverse crops such as fruit and nuts that provide food security or products for sale
- Trees provide shade for crops and fodder for livestock
- Local technology training
- Leadership training
- Opportunities for promotion of gender equality
- Training on local health issues.
Challenges
- Pests could move into the newly established area and destroy trees
- The local population may move into the lands for illegal grazing or cutting of trees
- Increasing drought could affect projected tree growth
Who it helps
The sale of carbon credits provides income for participants and funding to address agricultural, HIV/AIDS, nutritional and fuel challenges for local communities.
Why we chose this project
This project has an active GPS based, on the ground monitoring program which enables independent tracking of the trees planted in each plot. This enables ‘absolute transparency’ into the field operations. The project has been utilizing computer based data collection since 2004. By sharing profits with local farmers, this project helps to raise the living standard of the rural population as well as creates a healthier, more productive environment for them.
Project verifications


UN sustainable development goals













Drawdown
Drawdown is the most comprehensive plan to reverse global warming; TIST, the International Small Group and Tree Planting Program relates to Solutions Number 15, 17 and 62 – Afforestation, Tree Intercropping and Women SmallholdersDue diligence documents
- Validation & Verification Report - Uganda
- Verification Report - Uganda
- Verification & Validation Report - India
- Validation Report - India
- Project Design Documentation - Kenya
- Validation and Verification Report - Kenya
- Project Validation - Kenya
- VCS - Project Description
- Validation Report India
- Monitoring Report India
- Verification Report India
- Verification Report - Kenya
- Project Implementation Report - Kenya
- Project Description - Kenya VCS-001
- Project Description - Kenya VCS-002
- Monitoring Report - Kenya VCS-001
- Monitoring Report - Kenya VCS-002
- Verification Report - Kenya VCS-001
- Verification Report - Kenya VCS-002
- Monitoring Report - Uganda
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How we select our projects
We go the extra mile, or kilometer, to make sure each project’s carbon-cutting is effective, and the use of funds is efficient.
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