This is what hope looks like — and it’s growing

We had the great pleasure of discovering what the global non-profit ‘JUST ONE Tree’ is doing to remove carbon from the atmosphere and restore nature through global reforestation on land and sea. We caught up with founder Amanda Bronkhorst, fresh from her horse ride with Milo, her 20-year-old black beauty, to find out all about her journey. Milo is an important part of the story, as not only does he get her out into the wonderful Hertfordshire countryside, but he also listens attentively to her rehearsing talks and speeches. All he wants in return is kindness, carrots, and the chance to give you a kiss. Yep, if you put your hands behind your back, he’ll go straight in. 

“I was working in the ad industry for 20 years. But one day, when my daughter was 2 years old, I put her down for an afternoon nap, sat on the sofa, and thought: "Oh my god, I think we've finally found the rhythm, and I can actually finish a cup of tea”.

How wrong was I. 

As I scanned the news, an article in the Guardian caught my attention. It was Greta Thunberg's speech in the Houses of Parliament. One sentence struck a chord: “We only have 10 years left before we set off irreversible tipping points that will lead to the end of human civilisation as we know it”.

Prior to that, I knew climate change existed; I believed it was happening, but I hadn't understood the urgency. We were all told that our children would have plenty of time to solve the problem. I never realised that there were only 10 years left and Sena would only be 12 before these tipping points would be triggered. As I read the article, I switched from relaxation to pure panic. What kind of world was I bringing her into?

This was back in April 2019, and at the time, the government hadn't even acknowledged we were in a climate emergency. It was quite frightening.

It was then that I discovered how little it cost to plant a tree - just one pound. Hang on a minute, I never knew it was so cheap! 

And this fired up so many ideas, beginning with, I'll plant a tree for my daughter's future, and I'm pretty sure that other parents would do, too. So I looked it up, and there are 10 million children in education in the UK alone. I thought well, even if half of us plant a tree for our children's future, we would start changing landscapes and lives. And then what about estate agents? What if they put in a pound from every property sold? If you multiply that up and down the country, that's a huge difference. 

What if Glastonbury added a pound to their ticket? When, you're paying hundreds for a ticket. No one's going to notice an extra £1 - quarter of a cup of coffee, but yet the festival would plant 200,000 trees every year. And it wouldn’t cost Glastonbury a single penny. 

I realised we could make a huge impact on the planet, on people, on climate change right now and not wait for the government and politicians to figure out what's going on. 

So, I put a post out on Facebook, thinking, what's the worst that can happen? I raised £75 and planted 75 trees. Then I thought, why don't I design a website? How hard can it be? People do it, right? [We certainly do at White Camino] So I designed a website and gave myself a year. If I only planted 900 trees and that's where it ended, then at least I tried. At least I've done something.

At the end of the first year, we planted three-quarters of a million. So, I kept going.

By year three, we were invited to become a partner in the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and I was a nominated woman of the year - that was a big year. We're now 7 years since that first Facebook post and about to hit six million trees planted.

So it's really, really growing. But we don't just plant trees. We have three pillars; restoring ecosystems on land, through reforestation. Restoration in the oceans through kelp and mangroves - helping tackle ocean acidification, rising sea temperatures and marine biodiversity loss. And then our third pillar: inspiring the future generations by supplying free environmental education in schools.”

"I'd have loved some experience in how to actually grow an organisation. This was literally a Facebook post that grew organically and I had to learn on the job. One by one, companies partnered with us. They shared their impact with customers, employees, and stakeholders, and others discovered us through them. That's how we’ve grown. 

We have grown at a fantastic pace and now I’d like to ramp it up even more. So if I had experience in marketing, that would be super helpful! Maybe that’s what I’d change” 

And I know what you’re thinking, dear reader, we did not slip Amanda a fabulous donation to plant hundreds of trees if she said this, it was a genuine, unprompted thought. Although now we come to think of it. We’d love some trees, ideally, planted along a camino. More on that soon.  

“When people say 'you must be proud of what you’ve achieved' it reminds me to take a moment and recognise how far we’ve come. Day-to-day, though, I'm always focused on what more we can do. We’re in a climate emergency after all! I’m always thinking: ‘how do we get more companies on board? How do we make sure they’re choosing to restore nature the right way?’

Our values are incredibly important to us. We're not carbon offsets. We're not biodiversity credits. We don’t create credits or environmental assets for trading. Instead, we’re focused on driving as much funding as we can directly to ecosystem restoration and to the communities on the ground.

Putting people at the heart of the projects is key for us. Creating sustainable incomes means communities and ecosystems can thrive together for the long term. That’s how we ensure longevity. We’re using indigenous knowledge, backed by science, to restore ecosystems as nature intended.

There's lots of organisations and companies wanting to take action, but there's also a lot of distracting noise around biodiversity credits and offsets. I'd love to have a louder voice to show that funding nature directly is not only possible, but one of the most honest and effective ways to create real impact.”

“The one thing everyone can do right now is talk about climate change and nature. Talk about it with friends. Talk about it with colleagues. Talk about it around the dinner table. That is definitely number one!

The good news is that climate and nature aren’t separate from the issues people already care about - they’re connected to all of them.

At JUST ONE Tree we address all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, from clean drinking water and quality education to gender equality and sustainable livelihoods. So whatever matters most to you or your business, there’s a story to tell, and we can help you.

It’s a common misconception that restoring nature only has an environmental impact. Healthy ecosystems support communities, livelihoods, education, health, and so much more. That’s how we address the social aspect of ESG too. In fact, the two MUST go hand in hand.

Whatever your focus, whatever you’re passionate about addressing, talk about it. Share those stories. Get them out into the world.

And if you want to get involved with us, then we have all the resources to enable you to start ‘greenshouting’! It’s easy to head to our website, see how your business can get involved, or send a JUST ONE Tree Day flyer to your school, or of course, donate. 

And if I’m allowed a second action, it would be Reduce AND Restore. We absolutely need to reduce emissions and environmental impacts, but where we are today, simply doing less of the bad stuff is no longer enough. We must restore what has already been damaged too. 

W S Merwin famously wrote: “On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree” - do big corporations prioritise legacy enough?

“Generally speaking, I think many businesses still focus on short-term profit, rather than the long-term issues coming down the road and the effects these will have on their bottom line. If you look at the report that came out over winter that investigated the impacts if we don’t protect and restore nature, it’s frightening. It’s a threat to our food security, our water security, it's a threat to our national security, our NHS and our health, there’s going to be mass migration of people, more wars, more diseases ... The list is endless. And as such, it's an enormous threat to our economy. If you're looking to protect your business for the future, you have to look at nature right now and what your organisation is doing to protect it moving forwards.

Nature restoration isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s becoming fundamental to long-term business resilience. 

But if you think of it another way, it’s actually such a great opportunity to help future-proof your business. And at the same time, supporting work like ours strengthens brand reputation and credibility, helps build culture and employee engagement, meets stakeholder expectations, and demonstrates that you’re serious about creating positive impact. All of these things are hugely valuable. Take employee engagement as an example. 83% of staff want their businesses to be taking action on climate change. So in terms of attraction and retention, morale and culture, it's really important.

And if you're going after certifications like BCorp or EcoVadis, we tick those boxes too.

The encouraging thing is that it doesn’t have to be expensive. In some cases, it doesn’t have to cost a business anything. And there are ways for almost any organisation to get involved. I’ve yet to meet a business that couldn’t play a role in restoring nature. We're making a really big difference to people across 16 countries. This ripple effect of positive action is the light in the dark. Businesses enjoy being part of that.”

“Any brand apart from those funding fossil fuels, driving mass deforestation, or engaging in greenwashing. We’re looking for partners who are truly committed to doing the right thing and want to create positive change.

We vet every organisation to make sure that its values align with ours. We’re looking for partners who want to be part of the solution.” 

“Back in 2019 when I first read Greta Thunberg’s speech, I also felt that I wanted to bring environmental education into schools, because back then, teaching about climate change was unheard of. That’s when JUST ONE Tree Day began. It’s a yearly non-uniform day in schools - or wear something green or secondhand - where the children bring in a pound, and we plant a tree for their future. We also provide free climate change educational resources for the teachers to use on the day.

But it’s so much more. The children get to see how their one tree means their school plants an entire forest. Seeing firsthand how their individual actions really do add up to making a meaningful difference. 

Nine out of ten kids suffer from climate anxiety, which is frightening. So I’m grateful that the feedback we get from schools is that children feel really empowered on JUST ONE Tree Day because they’re able to take positive action and learn about the tangible difference they’re making.

What’s more, the children learn they’re not alone. 800 schools from 17 countries have now taken part. Knowing they’re sitting in their assembly wearing something green at the same time as children in China, Africa, the US and across Europe is really powerful. All taking part, showing solidarity for the planet on the same day.  Together, the children have funded over 457,000 trees by taking part in JUST ONE Tree Day. Most importantly, they’ve learned they’re not powerless.

There are 32,000 schools in the UK, you can imagine the impact if every single school got involved. The next JUST ONE Tree Day is taking place on Friday, 16th October.”

If you’d like to find out more about JUST ONE Tree, get in touch here: www.justonetree.life. Perhaps you're curious about greenshouting and getting your story heard. Drop Melissa a line here: melissa.fretwell@whitecamino.com.