Fund native tree planting on the Kikuyu escarpment in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, where our local project team has been restoring the forest since 2005 and has planted 70,000 trees so far in 2026. Choose trees on their own from £3 + VAT, or Tree Buddying at £9.50 + VAT, which pairs every tree with one tonne of CO2 saved through a VCS-certified project.
Reports, photos and videos from project leader Mburu Waiganjo and the team on the ground, newest first.
The 2026 season began with the October to December short rains extending into January, allowing the team to plant 30,000 trees. After a short lull, the long rains resumed in March. They were erratic at first but improved through May, June and July, and a further 40,000 trees were planted, bringing the total so far this year to 70,000.
Another 50,000 seedlings are ready in the nurseries for the October to December short rains, when El Niño conditions are forecast.
The team continues to return to earlier planting areas to replace trees lost to drought and browsing, particularly in the lower dry forest, where restored habitat has brought wild herbivores back. Project leader Mburu Waiganjo sees their return as a clear sign that a vital function of the forest ecosystem is being restored.
This programme is designed for supporters looking to fund credible tree planting in Africa while backing tangible climate, biodiversity and community outcomes.
We fund around 10,000 trees a month in Kenya. In 2026 the team has planted 70,000 trees so far, with 50,000 more seedlings ready for the October to December rains.
Tree planting helps restore habitats in one of Kenya's most important landscapes, supporting biodiversity, soil protection and healthier ecosystems.
Local nurseries, planting teams and long-term stewardship create jobs, skills and wider benefits for the communities involved.
Kenya's forests cover just 8.8% of its land, below the 10% minimum set in the country's 2010 constitution, and that figure has not moved since 2021. Forests protect water catchments, hold soil in place and shelter wildlife, and their loss adds to the floods, droughts and unpredictable weather that Kenyan communities increasingly face.
The Kenyan government has set a goal of 30% tree cover by 2032, restoring 10.6 million hectares of degraded land by planting 15 billion trees. Progress is well behind schedule. That is why community-led projects like ours matter: they plant, protect and replace trees on the ground, season after season.
Your support also goes further in Kenya. Each tree costs less to plant than in the UK, and the benefits reach local people directly, through jobs and income for families living alongside the forest they are restoring.
Sources: Kenya National Forest Resources Assessment 2021; Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Economic Survey 2026.
Contributions to our Kenya tree planting programme help us grow and establish native broad-leaved trees, prepare sites for planting and protect young trees as the project develops.
We plant indigenous species that belong in this forest, restoring its natural mix. Seedlings are raised in community nurseries and planted during Kenya's two rainy seasons: the long rains from March to July and the short rains from October to December.
They include medicinal trees such as Prunus africana and Warburgia ugandensis, whose bark has been heavily stripped from the forest, and Dombeya goetzenii, known locally as "bee's love", which supports the community's honey production.
Planting is only the start. Where young trees are lost to drought or to browsing by returning wildlife, the team goes back and replants, so restored areas keep filling in. The return of wild herbivores to the lower dry forest is one of the clearest signs the restoration is working.
Simple per-tree pricing. All prices exclude VAT.
£3 + VAT per tree
Fund native trees planted by our community team on the Kikuyu escarpment. Trees on their own support reforestation, wildlife and local livelihoods, but are not a carbon offset.
Buy on COMP£9.50 + VAT per tree
One native tree planted in Kenya plus one tonne of CO2 saved through a VCS-certified project, so your contribution delivers a verified carbon saving now. Download your certificate on purchase.
Buy Tree Buddying on COMPTailored quote
Planting thousands of trees, or building tree planting into a customer campaign, product or corporate gift? Talk to us about volume sponsorship and campaign support.
Talk to our teamTrees are one of the best long-term carbon stores on the planet, but a newly planted sapling absorbs very little CO2 in its first years. Most of its carbon uptake happens over decades as it matures, so it can't be counted against the emissions your organisation produces today.
That is why we created Tree Buddying. For every Tree Buddying tree, one tonne of CO2 is also saved through an internationally certified VCS project. The VCS tonne provides the verified carbon saving now; your Kenya tree adds long-term carbon storage as it grows, along with habitat and community benefits.
If you refer to Kenya tree planting in environmental claims, base any carbon figure on the VCS tonne rather than on the trees. Find out how Tree Buddying works.
Through our Kenya tree planting programme you help:
In August 2026, long-serving team member Ndegwa retired from the project. At his farewell, he described what the work had meant for him and his family.
"I earlier thought that we could only get firewood and illegally cut logs to build or sell to get an income. We were damaging the forest and risking our lives trying to make a few coins. Carbon Footprint through Esconet gave us environmental education and recruited us to become friends of our forest. I now had new hope in life as I started earning a very good income planting trees and protecting the forest from further damage."
Ndegwa, retired ESCONET project team member, August 2026
His son has now taken over his role in the planting team, working alongside his mother, and Ndegwa continues as a community elder advising on forest conservation.
Planting days, wildlife and the growing forest on the Kikuyu escarpment.
Trees on their own cost £3 + VAT per tree. Tree Buddying costs £9.50 + VAT per tree and pairs every tree with one tonne of CO2 saved through a VCS-certified project.
Yes. Our African tree planting programme is in Kenya, on the Kikuyu escarpment in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. You can fund native trees from £3 + VAT, or choose Tree Buddying at £9.50 + VAT to pair each tree with one tonne of CO2 saved through a VCS-certified project.
On the Kikuyu escarpment in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, where charcoal burning, logging and overgrazing have degraded a forest that local communities depend on for water and livelihoods. The project has been restoring this forest since 2005.
We fund around 10,000 trees a month, over 100,000 a year. In 2026 the team has planted 70,000 trees so far, with 50,000 more seedlings ready for the October to December short rains.
Native species that belong in the Kikuyu escarpment forest, including Prunus africana, Juniperus procera (African pencil cedar), Olea africana (African wild olive), Croton megalocarpus, Warburgia ugandensis and Cordia africana. Seedlings are raised in community nurseries and planted during the long rains (March to July) and the short rains (October to December).
The project team regularly returns to earlier planting areas to replace trees lost to drought or to browsing by wildlife, particularly in the lower dry forest, where restored habitat has brought wild herbivores back.
A local community project team, ESCONET, led by project leader Mburu Waiganjo. The team runs the tree nurseries, prepares the sites, plants the trees and cares for them as they establish, providing employment, skills and income for local people.
Not on their own in the short term, because young trees absorb carbon slowly over decades. With Tree Buddying, every Kenya tree is paired with one tonne of CO2 saved through a VCS-certified project, which provides the verified carbon saving. Trees bought on their own support reforestation, wildlife and local communities, but are not a carbon offset.
Kenya planting costs less per tree and restores a degraded forest that local communities rely on. UK planting uses cell-grown native trees in the region of your choice across England, Scotland and Wales, and offers corporate tree planting days. Many organisations support both.
Yes. When you buy trees through our Carbon Marketplace (COMP), you can download a certificate to share with customers, staff and stakeholders.
Plant trees from £3 + VAT, or choose Tree Buddying at £9.50 + VAT to pair every tree with a verified VCS tonne.