Embedding Restoration into Everyday Life

How can we begin to comprehend, face and solve the current climate crisis? One of the most daunting aspects of climate change is the sheer immensity of it - but is that aspect daunting or empowering? In a sense, it means that everyone has a collective responsibility to be a part of the solution, everyone has the opportunity to save what has been lost.

Moving From a Consumer Species to a Restorer Species

TreeSisters goal is to make it normal for everyone to grow their own forest, to fund reforestation of the world’s vital tropical forests in all our everyday actions that currently do the opposite. In this way, and in nourishing ourselves as well, the vision is to help humanity shift from a consumer species to a restorer species.

The approach is the balance of inner and outer, spiritual and practical, behavioural and ecological pathways towards that shift. This comes to life through the charity’s focus specifically on tropical reforestation and women’s empowerment, and is a process of discovering how to engage, nourish, inspire and activate women into their unique gifts and generosity on behalf of themselves, each other and the forests.

For two years, I worked with TreeSisters on Marketing and Branding this incredible work, alongside a team of passionate, dedicated women working around the world, and an even more enthusiastic global community of volunteers, business owners, artists and changememakers of all kinds - unique but united in longing for a world that cherishes women and nature. This is the first of a series of posts that will give some insight into the work we did together during that time.

why we all need to grow forests

The truth is that although world leaders, governments and inter-governmental organisations have worked for years to try to reverse climate change, there has been limited success, partly because the solution needs to come from an even bigger source - the population. If everyone grew their own forest, if it were normal to give back to the planet as it currently is to take from it, could you imagine the difference it would make? Millions of trees being planted per year, replenishing so many that have been deforested in the past few decades alone. We have to stop waiting for leaders to do things that make sense, and individually, collectively take climate leadership ourselves. This was the core messaging around our Grow Your Own Forest campaign in 2019 - a call to restore, to learn, to share about your own forest. It meant not only funding at every level, but also getting to know the species, communities and ecosystems that benefit from your donation - truly growing and knowing your very own forest.

When we understand these forests and ecosystems that we fund, they change us too - we learn to love, to restore, to replenish. We learn how destructive our relationship to nature has been in the past, and how possible it is to heal that relationship when it comes from a place of respect and care.