FAQs

Life Terra is a foundation with a mission to enable people to take impactful climate action now. We facilitate tree planting, educate future generations, and develop tree monitoring technology. Life Terra is one of Europe’s largest climate action initiatives. It brings together 16 experienced organizations from 8 countries. This project was awarded €7 mln support by the LIFE Programme, which the consortium will use as seed money to put this initiative on the map.

Our Team is a diverse group of people that are enthusiastic about taking climate action now. The foundation is based in Amsterdam and Barcelona.

Life Terra plants trees in +30 European countries, including Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Planting a diverse mix of tree species is essential to our planting plans. We firmly believe in “the right tree in the right place”, for more effective land restoration and greater ecosystem resilience. All Life Terra plantings will be multispecies to ensure mixed forest stands and rich, biodiverse ecosystems. Together with the landowner and our experts, we choose species that are right for the area.

Monitoring trees is important to ensure that the climate & environmental benefits we claim to make are happening! In collaboration with our technology beneficiaries, we are continuously developing our state-of-the-art monitoring program, where you can follow and monitor your own trees. Learn more.

We want our trees to survive and thrive! We only work with landowners that are committed to maintaining their new trees over the long term to take full advantage of their carbon capture potential. Before any new planting the landowner has to sign an agreement for this long-term commitment.

Life Terra has created an interactive environmental education package for children aged 8-14, named Terra Mission. Content on topics such as sustainability, energy transition, climate change, and circular economy will be delivered digitally to classrooms for free. For more information click here.

Life Terra provides users with the knowledge, tools and technology to take impactful climate action now. We facilitate tree planting and educate future generations, empowering local communities to become direct drivers and active actors of Climate change mitigation. We offer a user-friendly, interactive platform where individuals, schools, nurseries and other entities can register their planted trees, and stay up-to-date on our tree planting activities.

Life Terra trees are those planted in our planting events under the supervision of our Consortium. Partner trees are planted by our Planting partners, without the supervision of our Consortium, but tagged with our monitoring web app. These are planting initiatives, that we call Planting Partners, that want to use our tree-tagging technology to display their planted trees. These trees are then added to our general tree counter. You can check the total number of trees planted in your Dashboard, under “All trees”.

Yes, Life Terra offers carbon removal credits to help companies reach CO2 neutrality and other sustainability goals. Life Terra is involved in carbon credits that remove CO2 thanks to our large professional tree-planting projects in more than 30 European countries involving the local community in climate action. All our reforestation projects are monitored to ensure transparency in the trees' growth and survival rates. Learn more here.

The European Tree Planting Day is a movement that wants to unite communities across Europe to plant trees simultaneously.

The initiative started in November 2024, launched by the Life Terra Foundation and Nadace Partnerství. In the first edition, more than 29,000 participants planted trees in 19 countries in Europe to prove that climate action can make a difference. Learn more about the European Tree Planting Day here.

Young trees are quite attractive to animals such as rabbits or deer. In order to prevent browsing we place plastic tree protectors with tutors to fix them in the soil. In some cases (like in Germany or in the Czech Republic) we support the placement of larger fencing systems around a plot. If we use the typical green individual tree protector, the goal is to leave it for 2-4 years after which it is removed by the landowner or Life Terra. Where possible we try to reuse them, otherwise, they are recycled. In the past, we have also tested biodegradable tree protectors but the process of degrading is quite slow and a lot of microplastics end up in the environment.

At Life Terra, we aim to plant “the right tree, in the right place” promoting effective land restoration and greater ecosystem resilience. To ensure this, we make sure the whole planting process of trees is integrally planned and executed, from the species selection to putting the trees in the ground and ensuring correct maintenance and monitoring:

- We work with certified nurseries to gain genetic diversity and ensure local species

- Our species selection is based on a wide range of environmental (soil characteristics, weather, water availability, etc) and human factors (landowner requirements, objective of the planting)

- We involve the landowner from the beginning of the process to ensure land restoration is needed in the area and the commitment to maintain the trees after the planting (watering, protection, etc). We only work with landowners who commit to maintaining the trees for at least 40 years. 

- We make sure to prepare the soil before planting according to the characteristics of the land, this can include decompacting of the soil for example

- In the vast majority of cases, we plant the trees in their early stages (1-2 year-old seedlings) so they can adapt easier to the new environment and take roots faster. 

- We ensure the planting has been done correctly. If we plant with citizens, we make sure beforehand that everyone understands how to best plant a tree. 

- We arrange for protection in case of animal presence that will likely browse on the small trees, this can be in the form of individual tree protectors (to be removed after 2-3 years to reuse or recycle) or fencing of larger plots.

-We regularly visit a selection of sites that are representative of the area where Life Terra has planted in order to track the average survival rate and growth. We are developing satellite tracking software that will help us to identify plots and biomass growth when the trees start to grow bigger. We regularly publish monitoring results on our blog, for example in Germany and Spain.

There are definitely things that an individual or a landowner -public or private- can do to improve the survival rate after the tree has been planted. It is important to understand that planting trees is only the first step and proper maintenance, especially during the first few summers, is vital for their survival and growth. 

Especially in areas where summers are warm and dry, like the Mediterranean countries, trees will need to be watered every two-three weeks during the summer period. It can help to remove weeds with a hoe around the tree to prevent competition for the scarce water availability. If protectors have been placed, the site will need to be monitored frequently to rearrange misplaced protectors and avoid damaging the trees. Once the trees have grown thick and high enough to surpass the protector, these will need to be removed. Life Terra always recommends reusing when possible or otherwise recycling the protectors. Once the trees start to grow a round of pruning of the lower branches can be needed in order to help the tree grow better (particularly in urban conditions).

Every year we visit a selection of our planting sites and we also try to stay in regular touch with landowners we collaborate with. If we learn that a particular planting has extremely low survival rates we first of all try to analyse what could have been the factors involved in order to improve future plantings. Then we aim at replanting where possible in order to improve the results. If you have been visiting one of our plantings and see sub-optimal results, please notify us here and we will investigate as soon as possible.

Even though we try to do all that is in our hands to ensure the survival of our trees, we cannot ensure that all our trees will survive. There are external factors that we cannot control (especially those related to climatic conditions) that might affect the survival rate of a specific planting site. Usually, according to a study by MITECO, The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge in Spain, the average survival rate of newly planted trees is just 31%. Whereas in the north of Europe, such as in The Netherlands or Germany this typically ranges from 60 to 80%.  

In case you have doubts if a tree is dead, these are some clues:

- If all the leaves are dry or it has lost all the leaves it might be a worrying sign. However, keep in mind that some trees lose their leaves in autumn (deciduous trees). Also, some species dry out their aerial part as a survival technique and then sprout again thanks to their roots, so this cannot be a determining factor. 

- The twigs and stems of a living plant are flexible. If you try to bend it and it breaks easily, the tree is most probably dead. However, if the stem has some green areas (xylem), the tree is still alive.

Life Terra calculates the amount of CO2 captured by planted trees using a five-step process:

- Identify the Planting Location: They determine the country or region where the trees are planted and use specific biomass data for that area if available.

- Estimate Individual Tree Biomass: They calculate the dry weight biomass of individual trees based on species, location, and age using available data.

- Group Tree Species: If data is missing for specific tree species, they group similar species and estimate biomass.

- Upscale to Stand Level: The total biomass for all trees is calculated by multiplying the individual tree biomass by the total number of trees planted.

- Account for Survival: Depending on the project's ecological goals, they assume a survival rate.

The detailed methodology and data sources can be found here.

Please note that this method involves simplifications due to the diverse, broadness of plantings and sometimes limited data available, which may introduce uncertainties in the calculations.

Check our events page on the website to see the events near your area. If the event is open to the public, you will be able to join.

A big smile and desire to make the planet greener! Also, it is important to wear comfortable clothes that can get dirty (always check the weather forecast), a bottle of water (not single-use plastic, please), a snack, and a smartphone to tag your trees. Check more information here.

Volunteers are valuable members of Life Terra. That’s why we call them Terra Leaders. As a Terra Leader, you are leading planting events and sharing knowledge with your community. If you are interested in volunteering with us, get in touch at contact@lifeterra.eu.

Terra Leaders are volunteers therefore they do not get paid. However, Life Terra does provide reimbursements for event related costs & travel.

We will consider all the conditions of the terrain and its surroundings to ensure that the lands to be restored actually need trees. If they do, we’re more than happy to help you restore your land! You will be involved throughout the whole planting process. Find more information here.

We are interested in partnering to accelerate tree plantings in as many places as possible! We can offer you our state of the art monitoring technology, help you to restore your land, create your own company forest, provide you with a sustainability course, and much more. Contact us via Contact – Life Terra and we can explore the possibilities together!

That is great! As a company, you can get involved in different ways:

- Participating in one of our planting events with your employees (planting trees is a great team building activity!)

- Contributing to the project with a donation to plant trees

- Getting involved by becoming one of our partners.

We will be happy to explore possibilities together. Check all the possibilities here.

You can accelerate the planting of new trees by either participating yourself in a planting event or adopting trees that have already been planted in bigger projects. If you adopt a tree, you will receive a unique geolocalized tree in your personal dashboard. You can click on the tree to obtain more information about it (species, contribution to biodiversity, when was it planted, etc.).

Yes! When you adopt a tree you can either have this tree registered in your own account or assign it to another person. If you gift a tree you have the option to choose the occasion and to fill in the email address of the receiver. You also can personalise the gift by writing a message for the giftee. In case you want to gift the tree at a later moment, you can select your own email address. You will receive an email and you can forward later. It’s a great and surprising gift and for sure you can help inspire more people to become interested in tree planting. All tree adopters registered in our platform will later receive an invitation to join upcoming events.

Life Terra trees are planted in Europe. When you adopt a tree you can adopt a tree in your preferred country, depending on availability.

You can pay online with a credit card, SEPA (bank transfer), online banking services (iDeal, Giropay, etc.) or via online wallet services (Paypal, Google Pay or Apple pay). You only pay once for each tree and you won’t have to pay anything else in the future.

Yes. Life Terra Foundation has been granted the status of Public Benefit Organization (Dutch acronym: ANBI) by the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. The Dutch abbreviation means Algemeen Nut Beogende Instellingen. Because Life Terra has the ANBI-status, donations to Life Terra may be partially or fully deducted from taxable income. This advantage is only available, however, if the donation is of a periodical nature. For this, you must record an annual donation in a donation agreement (form available from the tax authorities) that is valid for at least five years.

Specific national regulations might be in place with regard to your donation if you live outside of the Netherlands.

At this point, you cannot yet name your tree on our platform.

No, payment takes place only once at the time of donation and you will not have to pay anything else in the future.

Yes, you can! For now your tree will be located in one of our European plantings. In the future we hope to extend these plantings to other parts of the world and our tagging technology is available to all global planting initiatives. Interested? More information here.

As soon as possible! We are continuously planting new trees. If we have trees in stock, your trees will be assigned to you immediately. If no trees are in stock, your trees will be assigned to you as soon as we plant and tag new trees. This will depend on the availability of the trees and land. Please remember that the planting season in Europe lasts from late Autumn to early Spring.

Everytime a tree is assigned to your profile, you will receive a notification by email. In your dashboard you can see how many trees are waiting to be planted in your name.

For now, you can only tag trees during Life Terra events. During the event you can tag all the trees you planted and they will automatically be registered in your personal account.

Open our web app (app.lifeterra.eu) and click on the tag a tree button. If this is the first time at our web app, you will be asked to authorize the use of your camera. Take a picture of your tree and select its species. After confirming the information, the tree will be assigned to your personal account. Learn more here.

You can access your Tree Dashboard here. When tagging trees with our web app, these will appear in your personal Dashboard. You will find relevant information such as the location, species, and an estimation of the CO2 captured by your trees. 

No, you can tag trees by only providing your email. Nevertheless, we encourage you to create a Life Terra account in order to be able to follow your trees online.

Via the platform you can follow your tree. You will be able to see its location, its species, when it was planted, in which event it was planted and if you tagged it yourself, you can see the picture you took when you planted the tree. We are working on an innovative monitoring tool in order to provide more info about your trees like CO2 captured, height, etc.

For now, we can only tag newly planted trees during Life Terra events.

Yes! When you adopt a tree you can either have this tree registered in your own account or assign it to another person. If you gift a tree you have the option to choose the occasion and to fill in the email address of the receiver. You also can personalise the gift by writing a message for the giftee. In case you want to gift the tree at a later moment, you can select your own email address. You will receive an email and you can forward later. It’s a great and surprising gift and for sure you can help inspire more people to become interested in tree planting.

Congrats on your green gift! You can see your tree by using your unique code on the pdf you’ve received and by accessing our platform.

In Life Terra we tag all trees individually, both at citizen planting events and in bigger plantings. In smaller events we count on you to tag the trees you planted that day. There is still a certain degree of inaccuracy in GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) data, so there will be a deviation between the registered location and the actual point where your tree is located. We hope that the deployment of the Galileo navigation network will increase accuracy in the coming years, also enhanced by Copernicus Earth observation services.

For bigger plantings, we are developing drone technology that will register each tree with high accuracy. The trees that you can “adopt” will mostly come from these plots and will thus have a higher accuracy as to their location.

Tree-planting is one of the solutions for climate change mitigation. Although, in Life Terra, we believe that there is a wide range of options and solutions to face CC.

Life Terra is founded on the knowledge that tree planting is regarded as the most cost-effective nature-based solution to capture carbon. As part of a multi-faceted mitigation strategy, planting trees can play an important role in the fight against climate change and the devastation it causes (heat waves, drought, forest loss, desertification, erosion, flooding).

However, we understand that cutting down current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mostly from fossil fuel combustion, and investing in clean, renewable and sustainable systems of energy production is essential and urgent to mitigate CC and must be a priority in governments’ and institutions’ agendas. Also, we encourage all participants in Life Terra to take a critical look at their own lifestyle and provide tips to lower each person’s footprint.

Life Terra addresses CC and generates benefits both in the short and the long term.

It is true that trees take time to reach a peak of CO2 absorption. However, young trees also capture CO2 during their early stages (to a lower extent). Indeed, a recent study (Science) proves young trees (which grow at a fast rate) have higher capacity for CO2 sequestration than mature trees (with slower growing rate). The maximum CO2 uptake occurs during the first 40 years. Thus, trees start soon to make a positive contribution to the decarbonisation of the atmosphere and we can see today the positive impact of tree-planting/reforestation initiatives which started a few years/decades ago globally.

Europe has massive restoration potential. During the last decades, Europe suffered several forest fires, leaving behind large patches of degraded land with potential to be restored. According to the Annual Forest Fires report of the European Commission, wildfires destroyed over 1.2 million hectares (ha) of forests and land in Europe, only in 2017. That is more than the total surface area of Cyprus.

Life Terra aims to plant 500.000 ha (5.000 km2) of degraded land with potential (and need) for ecological restoration. The area we want to plant, therefore, is not larger than regions like Cantabria in Spain, Liguria in Italy, Guarda in Portugal, or Brabant in the Netherlands. If put together, our trees would occupy a total area less than 2 times the surface of Luxemburg.

As part of a multi-faceted mitigation strategy, planting trees can play an important role in the fight against climate change and the devastation it causes (heat waves, drought, forest loss, desertification, erosion, flooding).

Conserving & restoring existing/old forests (and not only forests but all natural ecosystems) is very important to preserve biodiversity and natural systems that we’ll never be able to “restore” fully through human action.

However, mature forests have limited ability to absorb CO2. This happens because mature trees have a limited ability to grow further. Consequently, we cannot rely anymore on mature forests to capture atmospheric CO2. Here is where young trees come into play.

Even though nature is capable of regenerating by itself, some ecosystems have been damaged so much (mostly by human activity) that they reached a point of no-return where they cannot regenerate anymore or would take decades to achieve some sort of return to former status.

Planting trees can contribute to forest (natural) self-recovery, providing new trees and available seeds while helping decrease soil erosion (tree roots help soil retention). Tree-planting is an ecosystems-based solution to work with nature in assisting and accelerating ecosystem restoration.

Planting trees that are more adapted to warmer and drier climates can help natural ecosystems to adapt to global climate change. The aim of Life Terra is not only to mitigate climate change effects, but also help building resilient ecosystems and societies (climate change adaptation).

All Life Terra plantings will be multispecies, involving an average of 6 different kinds of trees to ensure mixed forest stands that over time will turn into rich, biodiverse ecosystems.

You can check this video for more info.

We want our trees to survive and thrive! We only work with landowners that are committed to maintaining their new trees over the long term to take full advantage of their carbon capture potential.

We use innovative technology (based on satellite technology, GNSS/GPS, drones, and vegetation indices) to provide a powerful tool and platform to track, monitor, manage and communicate tree growth and evolution, ensuring long-term success and sustainability of our plantations.