#12 Plant yourself a tree

The first national tree planting day in Kenya took place this week—a national holiday with the aim of planting 100 million trees. The Kenyans have a bold ambition to plant 15 billion trees in a decade.

We can do the same.

Trees improve our health, our wealth, our climate and our own environment— and we need to grow more.

It's the perfect time of year

Late autumn and winter is the best time of year to plant a tree. It doesn't have to be expensive—native tree saplings can be very cheap. Even supermarkets often sell fruit trees at discount prices. Or you can be ambitious and grow an acorn.

Of course, many of us don't have the space to grow a tree. There are lots of other options.

• Join a tree planting initiative—they're growing across the country
• Sponsor tree planting through offsets or charity donations
• Encourage tree planting in community areas and school grounds

The UK is one of the most deforested countries in the world. Even now, we are losing trees—we lost 7% in the last 20 years. If all of us start planting trees, we can turn this tide.

Trees come with great credentials

Trees aren't just a vital carbon sink. They improve property prices, clean our air, cool our cities, reduce noise pollution, improve communities and have even been shown to reduce crime.

Trees planted in the right areas can prevent flooding by absorbing and slowing the water. It can be cheaper and better than man-made flood defences.

Our mature forests are havens for complex biodiversity and protect many species from extinction—they have also been the source of many medicines. Forests are so good for wellbeing that people don't just visit them, they bathe in them.

With those credentials, we're short on downsides. Let's not just protect our forests, let's grow as many as we can—for ourselves and for future generations to wonder at.

It's a long journey

The more we act, the more we share, the more we have a movement towards a healthier, safer, more prosperous future for us all.

— 200 ways