TREES For BIRTHDAYS
"Trees are the lifeline and lungs of Our Earth -
As part of a holistic 'ecosystem' of climate action,Trees are vital to help remedy the current situation facing the World (Climate Change)"
Trees For Birthdays (TfB) is a new initiative between Tanzania and Scotland to empower climate action by bringing communities together through planting and nurturing trees (and other valuable plants). We know the soul soothing benefits of connecting with nature. We know the importance of love and community for quality of life. We know we are in a Climate Crisis, but that there is absolutely much more we can all do to SaveOurSpecies!
Thats why we bring you TfB...
It is still early days for TfB but we are so excited for what lies ahead and we can't wait to welcome you on this journey!
We are part of the Glasgow Climate Challenge Fund - from 22nd Nov every donation you make to support our work will be matched by Glasgow City Council!
Please check out our Crowdfunder
for our CCEC & Stories of Glasgow
Can you support us & make an investment towards saving our species?
Trees For Birthdays
Planting trees and building a community of tree guardians is at the heart of TfB, however we are about so much more than simply planting trees.
TfB is a mindset, philosophy, and way of life that we want to share with you! And invite you to join this journey towards Saving Our Species through instilling a love and respect for nature and each other.
We are all about planting (and nurturing) the plants that are so essential to life on Earth, growing communities, sharing love & stories, and providing education around the climate crisis and what each one of us can do.
The Climate Crisis is scary, but we see hope, we see a future where all life on Earth can flourish in harmony.
We adopt a GLOCAL approach - that is knowing the global challenges we face have local, grassroots solutions. We respect that every person, every place is unique and so 'one-size, one-solution does NOT fit all' - our approach is to identify the challenges "missions" that are shared, and to embrace the differences in how we overcome these at the local level. Knowing that we are contributing to the global mission to Save Our Species.
Our Story
Trees for Birthdays was an idea grown by co-founder Shamim. While studying at university Shamim didn't want to celebrate her birthday with the usual 'birthday drinks'. She wanted to do something more meaningful, special and less wasteful. Thats where the idea to plant trees for her birthday came from...
Fast forward a few years and Shamim met co-founder Jen. Jen connected with Shamim on Instagram during COP26 Glasgow (Jen's hometown). The two became close friends and looked at many ways to collaborate on their shared ambition to DO something about the climate crisis.
Inspired by her involvement at COP26 and the Fridays for Futures climate strikes, in 2021 Jen decided to do a Christmas Climate Strike. Part of this was a gift/investment to a few young grassroots activists across Africa, giving where she could see it having the best impact - Shamim was one of those amazing activists. Jen and Shamim's friendship continued to grow and inspired by Shamim's Birthday Trees Jen decided to bring the idea to Scotland for her birthday in 2022. See more here.
The two Green Warriors used the opportunity to connect schools and communities and the Trees For Birthdays initiative grew from this organic success.
We are still very much in the early days of this exciting project but we want to share the journey, not just the success... because ultimately our success is your success :) Nothing great happens in isolation. Its about working together!!!!
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What's to come...
Growing a social enterprise is similar in many ways to growing a tree, or planting a market garden... there is a lot of preparatory work to be done. And that where our focus is at present.
But here is a taste of what is to come:
- Tree planting - lots of it
In Tanzania this is a mix of shade trees, fruit trees and mangroves. In Scotland we are planting native species and seeking to remedy the land grab for monoculture tree factories with rewilding efforts.
- Sharing stories
Awareness is the first step required in taking action - you need to know about and understand a challenge to take adequate action. We believe that sharing stories is sharing knowledge and so we will be sharing stories across platforms and mediums. We share stories to create conversations, conversations to change the world. So we would love for you to engage in the conversation and join in sharing stories.
- Climate Education
As we say, awareness is the first step. But adequate action also requires a good understanding of the challenges faced. Thats why sharing knowledge is so important to us. We believe that everything we do should be with purpose and love. To feel the purpose of your actions you need to understand the challenge. So we are here to help with that. We focus our education efforts within schools - we are so excited to launch the Climate Education Caravans across Tanzania and Scotland later this year around COP27! As well as school education though we want to help educate anyone and everyone who wants to take action to Save Our Species.
- A big TfB party on 12th Dec 2022
To celebrate Shamim's Birthday, and launch our
Apology to Nature campaign.
Get Involved
Your world NEEDS you, to step up and take action to Save Our Species. We at TfB are here to help you do that!
We know that everybody's action will look different, there will be times for all of us when we can give more energy to the cause, and we know that even when you don't have the energy, your heart still cares. We know what ECOGRIEF feels like, we know what burnout feels like. And we don't want you to feel that. Taking action is about togetherness, kindness and having fun with it every step along the way.
While we are still in the preparatory phase of Trees for Birthdays we will be making regular calls for action - inviting you to join us on this journey.
So for now all we ask of you is to follow our journey, and share what we are doing.
Be the first to sign up to our monthly newsletter (starting July 2022) here.
And please follow us on Instagram (and other social media):
Shamim - @shamim_zawadi
Jen - @jen.newall
TfB Tanzania - @treesforbirthdaystz
