Canopy Tree Project
For the Love of Trees
November 12, 2025
Spending a weekend of rest and relaxation in nature can do more than just distract you from work, school, or any other responsibilities during the weekdays. Forested areas can have exceptional benefits for your mental well-being, reducing stress, supporting increased enjoyment of daily life and improving mental cognition. Trees can also improve your physical health, especially when planted in urban areas, supporting stronger immune systems, and even lowering blood pressure.
Every year, about 15 billion trees are cut down to make room for agriculture, provide timber, raise livestock, and supply firewood. Deforestation contributes significantly to climate change because cutting and burning trees not only releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but also reduces the number of trees available to absorb this greenhouse gas. It also threatens biodiversity, destroys habitats, and removes natural barriers like mangroves, which protect coastal communities from floods and storm surges.
The rate at which our world is losing its forests detrimentally impacts both animals and humans, especially Indigenous communities who apply traditional knowledge and resource management to maintain their own forest ecosystems; a loss of forests could result in a loss of Indigenous cultures and traditions around the world.
Good Intentions, Bad Roots
While reforestation is a crucial step in repairing the damage caused by deforestation, it is essential to plant trees that are native to the areas being reforested, ensuring that local communities and ecosystems can fully benefit.
Non-native species can become invasive when they cause harm to the environment, human health, the economy, or ecosystem stability. While not all non-native trees are invasive, some species grow quickly and aggressively, outcompeting native plants for resources and altering the balance of the ecosystems they inhabit.
An example of an invasive tree species is the White Poplar (Populus alba). Originally introduced to the United States for ornamental purposes, this fast-growing tree often outcompetes native vegetation for sunlight, water, and nutrients. It spreads rapidly through both wind-dispersed seeds and root suckers, forming dense stands that crowd out native plants and reduce biodiversity. In some areas, White Poplar also alters soil chemistry, further hindering the growth of native species.
Another example is the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Originally planted in the United States to provide shade along urban streets, this species has become highly invasive due to its extensive root system, ability to thrive in poor soil conditions, and rapid growth rate. Additionally, the tree produces chemicals that inhibit the growth of nearby plants—a trait known as allelopathy—further giving it a competitive advantage and disrupting local ecosystems
Invasive species are especially damaging because they disrupt natural ecosystems and often signal a decline in biodiversity. This can impact local habitats, which threatens not only other plant species, but animal species too. For example, in Northern California, the decline of native the Monterey Pine —outcompeted by non-native tree species—has negatively affected bird populations. Many bird species rely on Monterey pines for nesting cavities, seeds, and the insects that live in the trees. As these native trees disappear, birds lose essential breeding and foraging habitat, leading to reductions in their local populations.
Non-native species can also influence wildfire patterns, altering both their frequency and intensity. Because many invasive trees grow and spread rapidly, they can increase the amount of available fuel, allowing wildfires to burn more intensely and across wider areas than they otherwise would. In California, a state already prone to wildfires, the invasive Eucalyptus trees imported from Australia, pose significant fire hazards. Its bark catches fire easily and can spread quickly to other surrounding trees.
Planting Where it Matters
The right sort of reforestation remains an important action to support communities facing climate change. EARTHDAY.ORG’s Canopy Tree Project, works in partnership with local communities and organizations, helping to protect wildlife, their habitats, and community livelihoods through the careful selection and planting of much needed native trees in vulnerable landscapes.
As of 2022, EARTHDAY.ORG had planted 2,010,150 mangrove saplings in rural coastal areas of West Bengal to restore ecosystems and protect communities from climate impacts.
Mangrove ecosystems are crucial for mitigating the effects of climate change. They absorb and store carbon dioxide at rates several times higher than most terrestrial forests, making them powerful natural carbon sinks. Mangroves also serve as natural barriers for severe storms and floods, prevent soil erosion, and are important spawning grounds for aquatic species. For coastal communities, they support activities such as fishing and provide resources like firewood.
EARTHDAY.ORG also conducts community awareness and stakeholder engagement meetings near plantation sites. These meetings create awareness of climate change, teach coastal communities how mangrove reforestation can help mitigate climate change effects, and also encourage the communities to use their traditional knowledge for reforestation and discuss suitable planting site availability and project implementation.
Native Saplings in Tanzania
Mahale Mountains National Park (MMNP), located on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania, is one of three designated protected areas for chimpanzees in the country. The park is renowned for its rich biodiversity, including over 1,000 plant species, numerous mammals such as elephants and leopards, and a variety of bird species. Its remote location, with limited road access, has helped preserve its pristine forests, while local communities continue to play a role in conservation efforts, balancing human activity with wildlife protection.
This park has both economic and ecological benefits however, slash and burn agriculture farming and timber harvests in the buffer zones threaten its long-term ecological integrity.
Starting in 2021, EARTHDAY.ORG has partnered with the local community organization Friends of Lake Tanganyika, to ensure that the restoration project is locally driven. This project intends to restore buffer zones around MMNP to protect the park’s ecology and improve the livelihoods of small-scare farmers on smallholder farms. EARTHDAY.ORG is also supporting the planting of native fruit, medicinal, and other beneficial community plant species on both small farms and school supported plots, so that communities are less dependent on buffer zones.
EARTHDAY.ORG supports the planting of about 500 native seedlings per hectare in the degraded buffer zone areas of MMNP. This project is still ongoing, and as of now there have been 200,000 trees planted in the buffer zones of MMNP.
Rooted in Community
The Canopy Tree Project is true to its mantra – ‘Rooted in Community’ – supporting local people and communities to help build skills, create local jobs, and strengthen long-term resilience through native tree reforestation. Since 2010, EARTHDAY.ORG has planted hundreds of millions of trees across the globe.
If you are interested in supporting EARTHDAY.ORG’s efforts in restoring communities, protecting human health, and supporting ecosystems, consider donating to the Canopy Tree Project to help reforestation projects around the world!
If you want to learn more about why forests matter – please watch our brand new series UNDERREPORTED EARTH – “TREE TALES”– IG TRAIL.
Tracy McVeigh from The Guardian speaks with three top investigative journalists about their groundbreaking reporting: Elisangela Mendonça uncovers how the Amazon rainforest is being threatened by the collagen industry. Josephine Moulds takes us into the Congo Basin, where fossil fuel auctions are endangering one of the world’s most vital forest ecosystems. Ana Bottallo travels deep into the Amazonian mangroves to witness how local communities fought — to have their voices heard.
The episodes go live November 17/18th/19th across EARTHDAY.ORG social media on Facebook: Ep.1, Ep.2, Ep.3 and YouTube: Ep.1, Ep.2, Ep.3.
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