September 2, 2024
"Every tree counts"
Go Forest has been dedicated to planting trees for four years, actively working across 17 countries, primarily funded by corporate partnerships. We aim to continue expanding our reach and impact, contributing to a greener future for all.
Go Forest is a Belgian organization that believes every tree, whether locally in Europe or in the global south, has a unique impact and deserves to be fought for and negotiated over. We welcome both small and large tree orders, valuing every contribution to our mission. With this in mind, we want to clearly share our own mission and set our goals for the coming period.
Summer session with our dream team
Within our team, we all fulfill different roles, ranging from quality control and operational processes to customer success, acquiring new clients (‘Go Forest members’), and sharing our story with the world. Each of us has their own area of expertise, but we are all incredibly focused on our shared mission. The vibe in our team is fantastic because we respect each other’s uniqueness and are united in our desire to make the world a better place.
At the beginning of August, we evaluated the first half of the year and, based on regional urgency and personal preferences, developed a strategy for the coming period. We are excited to share this strategy with you because you are an integral part of its success.
(Trees) in numbers
Honestly, we must admit that when we started Go Forest four years ago, we thought we would’ve reached the goal of ‘one million trees’ for non-certified projects much sooner (not counting our carbon credits, as we only recently started that). It can be incredibly challenging to secure large budgets from companies, making it a volume game that requires a lot of onboarding and numerous conversations with businesses.
Our goal for 2024 is to plant 200,000 trees, which we are on track to achieve, allowing us to scale up to 400,000 trees in 2025. This would enable us to end 2025 with a total of one million trees planted across 17 countries. It’s just a number, but it’s an important first major milestone for us.
When we look at the various types of impact that trees can have—beyond just the carbon sequestration they provide over their lifetime—and consider how many people earn and will continue to earn income thanks to these trees, the increase in biodiversity, and how strongly we support different SDGs, it becomes clear that this is a significant goal to work towards. Through our annual report, we communicate with our network about all these different types of impact. However, companies can also find qualitative data on their own impact dashboard (see examples here).
Trees in Europe vs trees in the Global South
For the 200,000 trees in 2024, our mission and key focus is to plant a maximum of one-third in Belgium and two-thirds in other European countries and the Global South. We aim to meet the significant need for funding in other regions and want to give a boost to the countries that are heavily affected by climate change today (such as DRC, Madagascar, Brazil…). We are on track with this goal, but it remains a focal point until the end of December, as the planting season begins in November, and a lot of planting happens in Belgium through our initiatives.
We are incredibly grateful for this, as we also seek opportunities in Belgium to contribute to making forests more climate-resilient and increasing biodiversity. However, internally, it remains an enjoyable challenge for us to always allocate a portion of the local budget to the Global South. Our clients are usually very enthusiastic about this approach, aligning with the vision of “Act Local, Act Global.”
Staying grounded – like a tree
Transparency is extremely important to us, and we always strive to keep our customers informed about the latest developments in the field.
With our new Future Credits program (Carbon Credits program), we hope to give an extra boost to two projects in Africa.
As a team, we are full of energy and are committed to continuously involving our network in our journey—the highlights, the challenging moments, and everything in between. We always want them (you!) by our side as we pursue our shared mission for a greener and better world.
We can’t wait to make the most of the second half of the year, develop many exciting partnerships, plant impactful trees, and end the year with great results that we are eager to share.
Thank you for being with us,
Team Go Forest
