Plant4Schools

More than 95% of the schools in Eastern Uganda are facing rampant deforestation driven by the high demand for wood fuel especially for cooking in schools, which has led to severe degradation of forest cover. Many schools have cleared their trees to meet fuel needs, leaving bare, degraded land that contributes to soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity. Plant4Schools is a community-driven tree-planting and environmental education project aimed at restoring 100 acres of degraded land across 100 schools in Eastern Uganda by planting 50,000 indigenous and fast-growing trees. The project not only involves planting trees but also creating green learning spaces and integrating climate action into school culture. It’s a holistic approach that combines restoration, education, and empowerment. The initiative is spearheaded by Climatica Foundation in collaboration with school administrations, and student-led environmental clubs. The learners actively participate in the planning, planting, and monitoring of trees. Teachers and school leadership play a key role in sustaining the efforts. This project restores biodiversity, improves soil and microclimate conditions around schools, and reduces dependency on unsustainable wood fuel sources by promoting alternative solutions. It builds a generation of environmentally conscious students through hands-on learning and fosters local ownership of climate solutions. So far, 5 acres of school land have been successfully restored, and over 1,000 students have been trained as young environmental stewards.