How it works
Why 9Trees Started
Mikes Story - How it all began; On a plane to Nepal
It’s a meaningful start. Conscious, caring individuals fund our vision as they hold similar views on biodiversity, well-being, and nature connectedness. In some cases they also suffer eco anxiety.
Businesses who go above and beyond, sponsor trees which supports us in creating bigger better wildlife havens, this is no tick-box exercise (Carbon credits are bought elsewhere if they are needed).
Landowners who are altruistic hear our call and want to give back to nature, Copse Field will be turned back into a wooded copse, Hedgerows will become 'Gapped Up' and become shelterbelts once more.
We use our skills in Habitat management and co-ordination and spend the money and everyone is happy, including the creation of meaningful, fairly paid jobs & training for team and volunteers in the countryside sector! (see our impact report coming out soon on where our team and volunteers are now)
It’s more than just carbon. These trees support biodiversity, improve air and water quality as well as a host of other benefits. It’s part of a bigger picture. To achieve Net Zero, Native tree planting is vital alongside reducing emissions and sustainable living.
An interview with 9Trees CEO and Director Michael Cunningham
Permaculture / Woodland creation and utilising carbon as a means to fund woodlands, a passion and retirement in the woods we have all helped create!
How do we calculate carbon storage?
At 9Trees we include in our calculations, biomass, location and site conditions in calculating how much carbon a UK native species tree in a woodland can sequester over its lifetime.
There are many ways to accurately calculate the carbon held in each tree. One of the ways is to cut it down. Counter intuitive to the mission. Another is based on using scientific models which are continually being monitored.
When we started 9Trees, the average UK citizen had a carbon footprint of 9 tonnes per year now its 12.5 tonnes. Carbon footprints will clearly differ between people and lifestyles. However at 9Trees we want to simplify the overwhelming information which has been sourced from data, averages from the forestry and climate modeling sector and input from professional peers in the industry.
To calculate your carbon outputs and decide how many UK native species trees you will plant to start balancing your carbon footprint, use the handy calculator below
Why 36 Trees?
To have the best chance of balancing your average UK carbon footprint of 9 tonnes, a larger scale of tree planting is needed
UK woodlands typically contain between 1000 and 2500 trees per hectare, sequestering about 450 tonnes of CO₂ per hectare over several decades
Fraction of hectare needed to offset 9 tonnes CO₂: 4509=0.02. So, 2% of a hectare is needed to offset 9 tonnes
At 1600 trees/ha: 1600×0.02=32 trees
At 2500 trees/ha: 2500×0.02=50 trees
At 1100 trees/ha: 1100×0.02=22 trees
36 trees per year is a balanced, achievable step that significantly increases the likelihood of balancing your carbon footprint over your lifetime
Why plant trees?
'The best way to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere is through trees.' Sir David Attenborough, 2018
Planting trees is one of the most effective ways of capturing and storing carbon. But this process happens over the life of the tree and can take 25 years for it to be storing a significant amount of carbon
We need to start planting trees now, before it's too late
Despite being one of the world's richest countries, the UK is currently taking a backseat on climate change. This needs to change
Why carbon balancing? Carbon balancing compensates for the carbon emissions you create each year
(However this takes over 100 years) It’s best to reduce your carbon by consuming less!
Reducing your carbon emissions should always be your first step. We can’t keep consuming like there is a planet B
A zero carbon lifestyle isn’t yet within reach for most of us, as we live in a modern world. This is why we offer carbon balancing
Understanding your emissions is a good first step. We recommend calculating your own carbon footprint with the calculator below
Making changes in your lifestyle is the next step to reduce emissions and lower consumption
Work out your carbon footprint for travel below
You subscribe …
We plant YOUR trees in new woodland throughout the UK
We connect YOU with community through our local network updates
We conserve and manage YOUR woodland as it grows
We plant 9 Trees for YOU every year you subscribe!
You rest easy knowing you are helping create a future fit for all
… We deliver
We replant any failures in years 1 - 5
We look after the site for up to 50 years
You can visit most of the sites we create (we have 16 in 2026)
This is not a get out of Jail free card. It’s up to every one of us realising we have a responsibility to not just reduce, reuse and recycle once a week, but to understand how many years it takes to draw down that carbon and try and give back to nature what we took over the last few hundred years, whether that out of necessity due to wars, or mechanisation and a fast culture where we waste because it’s cheap to create at let demise of people and culture across the world, the ever increasing need for more when technological advances improving efficiencies and yet still we work 5 or 6 days a week to pay the bills and go on holiday... we all deserve a holidays - but as a wise woodsman once said - when he is at work he is also on holiday as he thoroughly enjoys being outside Managing sustainable forestry. (Watch this space as we explain more on what sustainable forestry is and how we can also help in forestry creation as well as conservation planting)
100% of your donation is used towards creating new UK native species woodland