The need is urgent. According to Botanic Gardens Conservation International and its State of the World’s Trees report, around 30% of the world’s tree species are threatened with extinction. That is a stark figure. It reflects what we see on the ground: forests under pressure and the risk of species quietly disappearing.

In Kobujoi Forest we only found two mature East African greenheart trees from which we could collect seeds. But this Earth Day could help save Kenya’s native trees.

We’re working to conserve and protect threatened trees and ensure they don’t disappear from Kenya’s forests. From the fast-growing but overharvested Meru oak to the 40 metre African cherry whose prized bark is used in medicines.

Losing even a single tree species can trigger a chain reaction of ecosystem collapse: forests are more vulnerable to fire and disease, habitats shrink, countless wildlife species and microorganisms are pushed to extinction and tree-dependent communities are plunged into crisis. Once a species is extinct, it’s lost forever.