PlantNOW is a non-profit association that aims to fund climate and nature conservation projects. In everything we do, we focus on sustainability, transparency and the consideration of current scientific findings.
We strongly believe that effective climate and nature protection cannot be measured only by the number of trees planted. Preserving existing natural landscapes usually makes more sense than ill-conceived reforestation efforts.
For sustainable reforestation, high biodiversity, soil condition, and long-term protection of the restored areas are more important than the sheer number of trees planted. Therefore, you will not find tree tickers or similar gadgets on our website. We are more focused on the sustainability of the projects we support and the sensible use of the funds available.
Reforestation and ecological restoration are effective ways to counteract climate change – but only if they are pursued sensibly and over the long term. Biodiverse and old natural landscapes absorb much more CO2 than monocultures. They are less susceptible to diseases, pests and climatic changes. Thus, the quality and long-term preservation of ecosystems are crucial to efficient climate protection.
Many organizations measure the success of their reforestation activities with the mere number of planted trees. But reforestation must be well-founded – instead of being impressed by mere numbers, certain aspects should be questioned. Which species are selected and how many of the seedlings actually become trees? How will the renaturalised area be protected in the long term or might it even be used economically at some point? What is being done with regard to biodiversity? These and other important facts are often not communicated. For us, on the other hand, it is important that renaturation creates the basis for the development of a high level of biodiversity – both in the projects we support as well as those we are planning.
We believe that sustainable renaturation must have its price. One thing should be clear, in no country in the world can a tree be planted and preserved in the long term for only one euro. We see such concepts of reforestation, or rather the advertising of them, quite clearly as greenwashing.
In order to live up to our conviction and make a meaningful contribution to climate protection ourselves, we founded PlantNOW as a non-profit nature protection organisation. We approach the important issue of renaturation in a sustainable and scientifically sound way.
Renaturation needs to be well thought out – that is why we work with various experts and follow the latest findings in this field. When supporting other organisations, we challenge their structures, procedures, transparency and scientific soundness.
We are in constant exchange with biologists, foresters, permaculture designers, geographers, universities and private research institutions in order to plan and implement our projects in the best possible way. With the help of satellite-based systems, we can transparently document and analyse the progress of our projects and the projects we support as well as make the data publicly available.
The promotion of biodiversity and the long-term benefits of our climate protection projects are very important to us. In order to be able to protect natural landscapes in the long term, we rely on land acquisition or long-term leases or conservation agreements.
Analysing the situation on the ground, giving nature a jump-start where it needs it, protecting it where it is still intact, and then leaving it on its own – this is what nature conservation and thus climate protection means to us.
We regularly inform our supporters and donors about the development of our projects and are always available for questions and suggestions.
