Enhancing adaptive capacity of smallholders in Thailand through the Trees4All initiative

By planting native and commercial tree species in degraded watershed forest and agricultural areas, the project will build ecosystem-based climate resilience of smallholders in Nan province, northern Thailand. Trees4All is a tree-planting initiative that engages the private sector and the public in sponsoring tree planting. The funds finance smallholders to replace their monoculture crops with diverse native and commercial tree species. These trees will help restore the ecosystem, support the adoption of regenerative agriculture (from crop diversification to sustainable livestock farming), and generate alternative sources of income through community-based enterprise development. For transparency, the online database trees4allthailand.org tracks the progress of the project, including each planted tree.

The project proposes a replicable forest farm model that builds ecological resilience by restoring forests, increasing habitat connectivity and biodiversity on farms, stabilizing soil, improving fertility and reducing risks from disasters. This ecosystem-based adaptation project uses financial incentives for smallholders to transition away from monocropping while enhancing economic resilience through the income diversification.

Project activities include:

• Fund mobilization through crowdfunding for forest landscape restoration, with public reporting on tree growth and progress.
• Promotion of regenerative farming to support the transition from monoculture to agroforestry, enhancing biodiversity and ecological resilience.
• Capacity building for local people to operate community-based enterprise and diversify income sources from forest landscape restoration-based products.

Project Achievements

1. Fund mobilization through crowdfunding for forest landscape restoration:

• The first phase of crowdfunding from 2022 to 2024 supported the planting and care of 22,260 trees, funded by donations of approximately USD 62,500 from 2,447 tree sponsors.
• The second phase of crowdfunding is ongoing, with donations of around USD 88,100 from 177 tree sponsors as of November 2025, with strong support from major corporations, including the Commission of Insurance Office and over 40 affiliated insurance companies in Thailand.
• With increasing trust in Trees4All’s transparency and measurable impacts, support surged in 2025, leading to over 22,000 trees planted that year.
• A partnership agreement was signed with the international non-profit organization for community-based tourism Planeterra to plant and care for 40,000 trees, contributing to carbon compensation efforts toward net zero tourism.

2. Promotion of regenerative farming and transformation to agroforestry:

• The project currently supports 191 smallholders. The farmers have transitioned to agroforestry, reducing short-rotation cash crops and integrating over 40 species of perennial trees, shrubs, stingless bees and goats into their farms. Most of the trees planted are native species to improve soil, reduce risks from natural disasters, and enhance on-farm biodiversity. As of November 2025, over 44,000 perennial trees have been planted since the start of the initiative in 2022, with a 96 percent survival rate in 2024.
• Ten farmers have started keeping stingless bees and three farmers have started raising goats to diversify their income sources. Stingless bees and goats also provide ecological benefits. For instance, stingless bees encourage farmers to reduce chemical use and open burning. Goats increase soil fertility and help reduce burning as well by consuming agricultural waste. As of November 2025, these farmers have 53 stingless bee hives and 40 goats.

3. Capacity building for community-based enterprise development:

• Trees4All collaborates with various partners to strengthen farmers’ capacities for effective community-based enterprise management. Through the “Growing Community-based Enterprise” initiative, members receive training in financial planning, community-based business plan development and enterprise management. Furthermore, the community is aiming to produce value-added products, such as stingless bee honey and goat meat-based products, linked to the story of forest landscape restoration.
• The Trees4All Community-based Enterprise is developing a standard called “Good Farming Management” (GFM) for goat raising in partnership with the Santisuk District Livestock Office. The standard will enhance the quality of goat raising practices and production to improve quality and build customer confidence.
• While stingless bee honey production has not yet reached a commercial scale, the Trees4All Community-based Enterprise piloted the production of stingless bee honey soap in September 2025 and will work with local businesses in Nan province for promotion and sales.