Forests explained
Two words that sound almost the same and mean different things. Here is the difference, and why turning grassland into new forest adds forest to the world.
CHF 5 per tree, VAT included
of the world's land is covered by forest: 4.14 billion hectares, or half a hectare per person.
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025of the world's forests were planted by people: about 312 million hectares. The rest regenerate naturally.
FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025tall trees with over 10% canopy cover on more than half a hectare: that is a forest by the FAO definition, or young trees that will grow into one.
FAO, FRA 2020 Terms and DefinitionsReforestation brings forest back to land that is forest. Afforestation creates forest on land that was used for something else. Both mean planting trees; the difference is what the land was before.
The FAO, the UN body that keeps the world's forest statistics, defines reforestation as re-establishing forest by planting or seeding on land classified as forest. The land stays forest land: think of replanting after felling or after a storm. Reforestation keeps existing forests healthy and growing.
Afforestation, by the FAO definition, is establishing forest by planting or seeding on land that until then was under a different land use. The land changes from non-forest to forest. Nature does something similar on its own, more slowly, when forest spreads onto old fields: the FAO calls that natural expansion of forest. Read the FAO definitions.
We do afforestation. All our forests are planted on former grassland, so every tree becomes part of a forest that did not exist before. We test the soil of each piece of land, plant a mix of native spruce, pine and birch that suits it, and look after the young forest for decades.
The world still loses some forest each year, but the loss is slowing: net forest loss fell from 10.7 million hectares a year in the 1990s to 4.12 million hectares a year in 2015–2025, and forest expanded onto 6.78 million hectares of new land a year, according to the FAO. Reforestation helps keep the forests we have. Afforestation adds new ones. Together they help the world grow more forest.
Every tree we plant adds to a forest that did not exist before.
We test the soil of each piece of land and choose the mix of spruce, pine and birch that suits it.
We look after the young forest as it grows, with updates and a yearly impact report.
One tree costs CHF 5.
It goes on our leaderboard, or stays hidden if you prefer.
We plant in the next season and report on how it grows.
By the FAO definitions it is afforestation, because the land changes from non-forest to forest. In everyday speech many people call all tree planting reforestation.
The FAO counts young trees as forest when they are expected to reach 5 metres in height and 10% canopy cover. A new forest starts the day it is planted, even if it takes years to look like one.
They do different jobs, and the world needs both. Reforestation keeps forests standing; afforestation adds new forest where there was none.
On former grassland where a forest can grow well. Before planting, we test the soil and choose the trees that suit it best.
