We work with local communities to exchange knowledge and raise awareness about environmental conservation. Last year, with a little help from our friends, we planted over 190,000 native trees throughout the Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai provinces. This would not have been possible without the invaluable support of local communities, including neighbors, the military, university students, primary schoolchildren, and the local government, who help us to restore their land.

While trees are currently the best technology we have for capturing CO2 emissions, sequestration is not their only (or even their most important) function. Most ecologists agree that prioritizing biodiversity always includes carbon benefits, but with the reverse – focusing too much on carbon storage – we can lose sight of what trees do best. With enough trees we have a forest, and forests supply a wealth of essential services that we depend upon, including cleaner air, purified water, and healthier soil. Forests prevent erosion, protect our communities from landslides, flooding, avalanches, and other natural hazards. They beautify and enrich the landscapes that we hold sacred. They provide us with medicines and food and shelter, they keep us warm and fashion our tools and build the bedframe and our favorite chair, the roof and the walls and the foundation. For as long as we have been here, forests have nourished and sustained us. 

Here at Conserve Natural Forests, we emphasize that carbon sequestration is only one of the ways that forests help us to thrive. That’s why our prime directive is a holistic approach to forest restoration that considers the myriad of benefits that trees provision here in the mountains of Northern Thailand and across the world. 

When you give to the forest, the forest gives back.