Building a Greener Future: Restoring Biodiversity in Ukraine

The scale of CO2 emissions released into the air worldwide is unstoppably rising, with the carbon footprint of the most advanced and industrially intensive economies taking a toll on the local environment.

As a result, people in all corners of the world are deprived of a basic right to breathe fresh air and drink clean water.

These adverse trends observed in many regions have given rise to a variety of green initiatives aimed to reduce CO2 emissions, conserve natural resources, and ensure vulnerable ecosystems’ survival.

Tree Planting for Climate Change Offsetting

The simplest and the most effective way to combat this ecological crisis is tree planting. This initiative serves as a sequestration measure for minimizing the impact of CO2 emissions on the local communities and the environment.

Tree planting has been a popular offset measure across the globe, with over 1.8 billion trees planted in 2021 only. Yet, humanity shouldn’t stop at that, as climate ecologists argue that a minimum of 1.2 trillion new trees are needed to revert climate change’s disastrous dynamics.

Recently, supported by Bitkraft Foundation and Terraformation, the project Treetrio (Re-climate) launched a green initiative for tree planting in the Rivne region of Ukraine. ‘

It was an ambitious project aimed at restoring the local forests’ biodiversity and capturing the CO2 emissions released by local industrial facilities.

Treetrio initiated this project as part of its far-reaching mission of attaining sustainable forest management and rejuvenating the local environment to address the harms of climate change.

The project involved planting massive forest areas in four districts within a Rivne-located forestry cooperative. The joint team selected those districts to achieve the greatest impact in terms of ecosystem revival and CO2 sequestration.

As a result of thorough planning, the Treetrio project covered the following areas:

🌿 Blazhivske – 21.9 hectares

🌿 Snovidovytske – 10.6 hectares

🌿 Kamyanske – 3.5 hectares

🌿 Karpilivske – 14.0 hectares

The team for tree planting included 23 hired staff – 13 men and 10 women – responsible for tree placement and organizing all the processes.

The project started in November 2021, with the second planting phase scheduled for March 2022 – the time when Ukraine was already under massive attacks and hostilities unleashed by Russia.

However, the team’s resilience and commitment to the initial goal were unrivaled, with all the milestones completed on time.

The initiative’s implementation encountered several unexpected challenges underway, with a surge in fuel prices increasing the total cost estimation of the project. As a result, the project’s budget rose by 19%, which was compensated jointly by all project participants.

The planting process entailed the use of tractors, specialized team engagement, smart tree mapping with software use, and the replacement of non-germinated seedlings.

Besides, the initial two-week planting session in November 2021 had to be paused because of the unfortunate weather conditions and early snowfall.

The second planting phase was scheduled for March 2022, even amid the war hostilities, which reveals the team’s heroism and commitment to green initiatives and biodiversity preservation.

About Treetrio

Treetrio is a sustainable forest management project aimed to unify local foresters and small businesses and give each of them a fair role in biodiversity restoration in the Rivne region.

Though the primary focus of tree planting initiatives is CO2 sequestration, this initiative’s impact goes far beyond this outcome, covering:

• Local economy stimuli

• Water resource conservation

• Forest revival

• Biodiversity protection

• Carbon sink setup

• Hindering the desertification dynamics in the region.

  
  

As a result of pursuing a number of tree-planting initiatives in the region, Treetrio has managed to attain the following award-winning milestones:

• The proliferation of 12 tree species

• 50 hectares of new forests planted in the Rivne region

• 100,000 planted trees

• 90% of all plants’ survival rate

  
  

The far-reaching goals of the Treetrio initiative cover tree management, replacement of non-viable seedlings, and tree planting for the next 45 years. To help foresters handle the project’s large scale and manage huge forest areas, the Treetrio team integrated smart software to simplify tracking and trained the involved team.

Each planted tree has a mark and is conveniently tagged on the smart map, guaranteeing proper monitoring.

To date, the project has been implemented by 40%, with 40,000 out of the planned 100,000 already planted. This contribution to the Rivne region’s carbon emission reduction and biodiversity enrichment is unrivaled, promising substantial gains and benefits for the local population.

As this project goes on, Treetrio makes vital steps toward a greener, cleaner environment in the region and a more sustainable future for Ukraine with the unending support of all engaged parties, including 4IRE.

Mitigating Climate Crisis With Blockchain & GreenFi

4IRE, a Swedish-Ukrainian blockchain development company, is another example of a company that supports green initiatives for the sake of sustainable, positive ecological gains.

The team offers a unique combination of technical expertise in the digital solutions underlying Green Finance projects and domain-specific expertise in the environmental landscape for such projects.

They’ve participated in several impactful GreenFi projects and offer white-label Carbon Credit Marketplace software to speed up such projects’ market entry and development.

Blockchain is at the heart of many GreenFi solutions ensuring the project’s security, technical excellence, and transparency vital for the GreenFi industry.

Blockchain operations rest on the principle of transaction recording into a public ledger, immutable to manipulations and decentralized for ultimate user control.

Such technical execution raises user trust in GreenFi projects and attracts a larger audience of consumers and investors interested in contributing to a positive environmental change.

New Projects for Treetrio and 4IRE

After the inspiring success of the reforestation initiative in the Rivne region, 4IRE is planning to join hands with Treetrio in another sustainable project – post-war forest revival in the regions affected by hostilities, such as Kherson, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.

The present-day preparation for this large-scale work involves compiling an expert team of forestry scholars and practitioners who will collaborate with interested investors to renew Ukrainian biodiversity.

Treetrio’s prior hands-on experience in tree planting is an invaluable contribution to this ambitious plan, promising effective solutions for the unprecedented ecological problems.

We are optimistic that the emergence of further green initiatives, similar to the remarkable project led by Treetrio, will play a pivotal role in shaping a more environmentally conscious and sustainable future for Ukraine.

It is important that we unite our efforts and work diligently for a beautiful tomorrow in our nation.