About the Pitch
Submitted By: Green Savers
Name of the Solution: Sponsor A Tree
The Pitch in one Sentence:
Sponsor A Tree funnels funds directly to income-generating, sustainable tree gardens in homes of those in need, supporting them financially and benefitting the environment by ensuring these trees reach maturity.
Partner Organizations for the Project: Each employee from Marico Bangladesh Ltd, IDLC Finance Ltd and Epyllion Foundation donated trees to the initiative.
The Initiative in Video:
The Project on Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/sponsoratree.asia
Summary of the Pitch
The mere act of planting trees does not guarantee its survival, which leads to a mere show of the act of planting the tree and adds little value or guarantee of it reaching adulthood. The Sponsor A Tree initiative aims to bring together a community of Tree Sponsors and families in need, the Tree Guardians, who donate their own space for the tree, plant, nurture and receive support and advice from our team of experienced horticulturists, while generating income from the training and the trees received.
What specific problem is this initiative trying to solve?
Tree plantation drives are proven to be ineffective and unsustainable due to lack of follow-up and does not ensure its growth to maturity. This means that the funds and time donated behind these drives prove ineffective. This initiative gives ownership of each tree to households who need the extra income from the trees, and implements a transparent monitoring channel, where the donor can get regular updates on the growth of the sponsored tree.
Details of the Pitched solution
The Sponsor A Tree initiative will assign families in need in districts across Bangladesh as “Tree Guardians”, who are willing to donate a spot of land and their time to take care of each tree planted, keeping the trees alive well into maturity, while generating year-long income from the produce from these trees. Green Savers will provide the saplings, daily monitoring, nurturing skills and ensure that each tree reaches adulthood.
More impact happens when more people are driven to change. Instead of simply planting the trees ourselves, we give power to the people and make change happen as a community, generating buzz and inspiring more people to plant trees in their area.
What Trees will we plant?
The trees we plant will be closely monitored so that it reaches adulthood. For maximum CO2 offset, we select purely local trees found in surrounding areas of the plantation site, typically large fruit trees such as mango and orange. These trees typically reach maturity within 10-20 years, and provide benefits such as fruits and shelter for surrounding wildlife.
The list of trees we have selected for planting are predominantly large trees (20-30m in height) and the goal is for them to reach adulthood. We choose local species which have a higher survival rate, is not invasive and will provide shelter for the local fauna (birds and small animals). Once an area is selected, we try to plant at least 10 different species of trees in the area, ensuring that we do not have a monoculture and that the Tree Guardian has fruits for income and consumption throughout the year.
| Local Name | Month of Harvest | CO2 taken in from the atmosphere (ton/yr)* |
| Malta | January | 0.02 |
| Kul Boroi (jujube) | Feb-March | 0.03 |
| Mango | May-June | 0.05 |
| Lychee | June | 0.38 |
| Kathal/Jackfruit | June-July | 0.07 |
| Guava | Aug-September | 0.03 |
| Aamra | September | 0.02 |
| Daalim | November | 0.06 |
| Orange (Clementine) | December | 0.06 |
| Lemon/Lebu | December-January | 0.01 |
Monitoring
For additional monitoring reports on a per month basis, Green Savers will send updates individually to each Tree Sponsor, on the trees for as many additional months as Nestlé Bangladesh Limited requires. This information will include:
- Pictures of the Trees with Unique Code
- Height/Growth of the tree
- Species of the trees planted
- Harvest information (if any)
- Any additional information, such as disease treated, new flowers coming in etc.
Impact and Beneficiaries of the Pitched Solution
Each household of 4-5 individuals get upto 10 trees, which take in an estimated 0.7 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year for 5-8 years. The goal of this initiative is to ensure a caring and monitoring system and keep the trees alive and healthy until their maturity.
Till date, over 6,500 beneficiaries in 8 districts have received sponsored trees from individuals and companies. This provided additional income to 678 households and takes in an extra 455 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually.
What city, village and upazilas are this solution impacting?
We implemented this program in the following districts – Barishal, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Gazipur, Nilphamari, Jhenaidah, Sirajgonj, Sylhet
Which divisions will this solution be impacting?
- Barishal
- Chittagong
- Khulna
- Rajshahi
- Rangpur
- Sylhet
What kind of support do you need to take your idea forward?
CSR Funds, Corporate Partnerships
Budget Details
Cost of planting each tree includes cost of the sapling (4-5ft in height), soil media (fertile soil, compost and fertilizer), stand, transport and labor. Each employee of Nestlé Bangladesh Limited will receive a Tree Sponsorship certificate and two individual emails (with images), on the state of the trees at plantation and six-month post plantation, as per our current modality. Any tree sponsor can still call our hotline, shared in the initial mail, at any time to schedule a call, visit or video chat with the Tree Guardian at any time.
| Cost Details | Unit | Unit Price (BDT) |
| Tree Sapling | Lump Sum | 105 |
| Compost/fertilizer (1kg) | Lump Sum | 35 |
| Stand | Lump Sum | 22 |
| Transport&Labour | Lump Sum | 13 |
| Logistics , space finalization & Community Engagement | Lump Sum | 20 |
| Total cost per Tree | 195 | |
| Number of Trees | 1000 | |
| Grand Total | 195,000 |
About Green Savers
Green Savers has been greening Bangladesh using a mix of public-private partnership, advanced horticulture and social entrepreneurship to help nature flourish and spread environmental awareness in Bangladesh for over 12 years. Their work focuses on solving the green space issue through entrepreneurship and job creation, and has operated with over 50 NGOs, Corporates and Government bodies. Green Savers is also nationally and internationally recognized by numerous awards, including the Prime Ministers National Award, UN Forest Service Recognition and the Ashoka Fellowship.
