Plant trees for the planet and human development
A Tree for You is a non-profit association working for human development in harmony with the environment. Since 2017, this association has been operating equitable tree planting projects in France and around the world, working closely with NGOs and local communities to maximise both the social and environmental impacts of the projects.
The association allows individuals, institutions and companies to support its planting projects by making a donation in exchange for a tax receipt.
A Tree for You selects local NGOs and co-constructs the projects with them thanks to its committee of recognised, independent and voluntary experts. The projects implemented and monitored over time by the association have a long-term impact for future generations: soil stabilisation, fight against climate change, resilience of local communities, enrichment of biodiversity, regulation of the water cycle.
Donating to A Tree for You is:
simple and transparent: A Tree for You provides breakdowns of tree prices together with details on stakeholders in the field, work schedules, and the geolocation of plantations – for each and every one of its projects…. A Tree for You is a tried and trusted third party.
traceable: donors themselves choose where to plant their trees. After making a donation, they join the social network dedicated to their selected project(s) and receive news about their trees for at least three years.
educational: each project details the species planted, beneficiaries and expected loss rate, as well as the environmental and social benefits, in order to raise awareness of forestry and agroforestry issues among donors.
inclusive: A Tree for You gives everyone the opportunity to donate, offering a wide choice of projects on all continents and trees at all prices!
Joining the A Tree for You donor community means becoming involved in the strong collective ambition to reforest the planet.
Why plant trees?
Our projects provide many benefits
Trees play a role in enriching and restructuring soil by capturing atmospheric C02, nourishing soil life and anchoring themselves with their roots.
These actions help protect against soil degradation, impoverishment, erosion and landslides.
Together with other plants, trees effectively tackle desertification.
Trees regulate the water cycle. By boosting infiltration into the soil, they help reduce risks of flooding and erosion.
Trees evaporate a considerable amount of water, creating a cooler and more humid local microclimate, thus improving the well-being of humans and livestock.
Trees, together with agroforestry crops or exploited in the forest under sustainable conditions, contribute to diversifying income for communities and developing employment across territories.
In this way, the populations become the first to protect the plantations and become more resilient to climate change.
Trees provide shelter and food for diverse animal, plant species, fungi and useful bacteria and so help create a richer biodiversity.
In agroforestry, trees limit the use of insecticides or fungicides by encouraging the presence of auxiliary species.
The diversity of tree species planted by the projects favours plant biodiversity and improves the landscape.
Through photosynthesis, trees capture CO2 and use it to build their trunk, branches, leaves and roots. Trees help store CO2 in the soil, thus fighting the greenhouse effect (to find out more about carbon absorption).
The tree species planted are chosen for their ability to adapt to climate change.
About us
A Tree For You is first and foremost a good will community!
They provide moral support for our cause:
“Restoring land delivers rapid results, is relatively cheap, and enables local populations to regain both food and financial self-sufficiency. It creates green jobs at the local level, particularly for the most vulnerable members of society such as women and young people.
“As a consequence, improving environmental conditions opens up opportunities for current and future generations for whom, up until now, migration was the sole strategy for adapting to environmental and climate changes.”
Monique Barbut, honorary member of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
“Governments have a role to play, but we citizens can influence the course of events.”
Jean Jouzel, climatologist and glaciologist, member of the French Academy of Sciences (Académie des Sciences). Between 2002 and 2015 he was Vice-President of the scientific working group within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the organisation that won the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 together with Al Gore Jr.
“Earth is a space ship travelling at 30km a second around the sun and we are all crew members, not just passengers. In other words, we have a role to play and must shoulder the responsibilities of managing this ship.”
Jean-François Clervoy, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, has completed three NASA Space Shuttle missions.
Why trees?
“Over the last two centuries, humanity has taken possession of spaces and species at an alarming speed, leaving no time or capacity to adapt. The diversity of life is significantly damaged. The problem is complex and the solutions multifactorial.
Analysing the earth’s ecosystem, however, reveals trees to be the common denominator of living for all species. Omnipresent on all continents, they gratify the planet and humanity with their diverse potential. Trees are a material for building and heating, shelter and canopy for biodiversity, the earth-sky water tower. They provide oxygen and regulate climate, sequester carbon, safeguard soils, and may act as intermediary between agriculture and nature.
Doctor and polar explorer, Jean-Louis Etienne was the first person to reach the North Pole solo. He has also completed the longest crossing of Antarctica to date.
A TREE FOR YOU is an association governed exclusively by volunteers:
André-Jean Guérin, President. The first director of the Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme and a member of the French Academy of Agriculture, André-Jean has spent his career supporting environmental causes
Gérard Feldzer, Vice-president, had the bright idea of a bringing together people and tree planting projects. A retired airline pilot and expert in transport and aviation, Gérard has a regular slot on the French radio station Franc Info.
Geneviève Ferone-Creuzet, Vice-president. Founder of Casabee, Geneviève is a pioneer in corporate and environmental social responsibility.
Lionel Guerin, treasurer, is actively involved in promoting biodiversity in airport zones with Aéro Biodiversité. Pilot and engineer, Lionel was previously Managing Director at Transavia and deputy CEO of Air France.
Han Ngoc Ha, Secretary General of A TREE FOR YOU, and President-founder of the association ZEBUNET, a micropayment platform for animal rearing.
Vincent ETCHEBEHERE, representing the company and the support of Air France. He is Director of Sustainable Development and New Mobility at Air France.
Jean-Luc MATHIEU, Honorary Master Counsellor of the Court of Auditors
Responsible for the day-to-day running of the association, Joëlle TOURE, an agronomist, develops the projects and manages all operations.
Responsible for the day-to-day running of the association, Aimy CARADEC, a jurist in environmental law, develops the projects and manages all operations.
With their skills and experience, they pre-select projects for the Board that meet our criteria and are sustainable, and follow them throughout their implementation.
Anneke De Rouw, agronomist-ecologist, in charge of HC research at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IRD)
Samuel REBULARD, agronomist and Associate Professor of Biology and Earth Sciences. He is co-responsible for the preparation of the French Aggregation exam at the University of Paris-Saclay and the author of Défi Alimentaire (Belin Education, 2018)
Alain RIVAL, agronomist, manager of R&D projects in tropical agriculture and forestry at CIRAD
Jean-Louis JANEAU, hydro-ecologist and soil specialist at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IRD)
Séraphine Grellier, senior researcher (lecturer at the University of Tours) with expertise in ecohydrology on international research projects (Asia, Africa and Europe)
Active in the field, they all have proven experience of running quality projects that respect nature as well as men and women:
Agrisud enables communities in countries in the southern hemisphere to make a decent living off their land, on their land. Working with local partners, this NGO trains these communities in the principles of agro-ecology and supports them in practice, including the economic management of their crops.
The association for the promotion of fertiliser trees (Association pour la Promotion des Arbres Fertilitaires, APAF) has developed a proven method based on so-called ‘fertiliser trees’ to transform and developer agroforestry in sub-Saharan Africa.
The PLANTONS pour l’avenir trust is working to bring abandoned forests in France back into operation, to develop local economic fabric, and decrease the country’s dependency on timber imports.
The French Agroforestry Association (Association Française d’Agroforesterie, AFAF) oversees French network of all reconversion projects in favour of agriculture that embraces the benefits of trees.
Extending the artistic work and environmental commitments of Yann Arthus-Bertrand, GoodPlanet Foundation, recognised as a public utility, seeks to put ecology and humanism foremost in our minds and stimulate a desire to take real action for the planet and its inhabitants.
PUR Projet is a social business working to regenerate the ecosystems we depend on. This action helps strengthen the value chains of companies and improve the quality of life for local communities. PUR Project runs environmental and social projects delivering positive impacts in a myriad of agricultural segments, both animal and plant, in over 40 countries worldwide.
A general assembly on the peniche, the association’s headquarters
Our founding members
They are supporting us: many thanks to all three!
Air France connects people and cultures and meets the growing demand for travel around the world. Aware of the impact of the activity on the environment, the compagny committed on a daily basis to implementing concrete actions to sustainably achieve these objectives, while preserving the environment and promoting social progress.
The French Civil Aviation Authority (Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile, DGAC) bases its ecological transition strategy for air transport on three fundamentals: repositioning aviation within today’s changing transport context; tackling climate change; reducing local pollution linked to air transport, particularly air quality in and around airports and noise exposure for local inhabitants.
Voies Navigables de France (VNF) is the French navigation authority responsible for managing and promoting 6,700km of inland waterways nationwide, their 4,000 engineering structures, and 40,000 hectares of public domain property. Convinced of the multiple benefits of trees – preserving biodiversity, managing rainwater, preventing soil erosion, or even helping to reduce concentrations of fine particulates – VNF takes great care of them across the entire waterway infrastructure.