Plan Tree (Plan Boom) - the Netherlands

The national initiative 'Plan Tree' in the Netherlands aims to plant 10 million native trees as a nature-based solution to climate change and for a more beautiful, greener and healthier country. Together with residents, volunteer groups, governments and businesses, 'Plan Tree' is a financial incentive instrument that supports different stakeholders in planting trees. In this way, 'Plan Tree' helps the climate and contributes to strengthening biodiversity. 'Plan Tree' is a bottom-up movement working together with governments in a practical way to combat the global climate crisis. Until September 2022,1.7 million trees have been planted. An online toolbox is provided with information sheets that contain step-by-step plans and tips on how to get started with planting trees, how to organise a plant event or how to motivate neighboorhoods. The Plan Tree website also features a map where people can locate their planted trees.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Economic and fiscal instruments›Payments as rewards/for ecosystem services, subsidies, incentives

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Heat stress and heat island effect
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The initiative only aims to plant native trees that fit into the landscape, thus enhancing both biodiversity and the resilience of the living environment. Planting trees is also a natural solution to store carbon dioxide.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Other

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Inclusivity

Governance

Non-governmental actor(s)

Initiating body:

Coalition

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The initiating body is a coalition of Nature and Environment federations, in cooperation with Landschappen NL, various urban environment centres, foundation wAarde, LSA and others. No governmental actors were involved in the design of the instrument, as it was a bottom-up initiative.

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Details about the implementation:

'Plan Tree' cooperates with local and provincial authorities to jointly organise actions. By combining knowledge, capacity and funding, the initiative makes it possible to organise these actions. The actions are often part of the realisation of overarching objectives of local and provincial governments to increase the amount of green space and involve residents. The Plan Tree involves private landowners to work on private property/gardens, farmers, volunteer groups to help with planting, local/provincial authorities to organise planting and distribution actions, and other diverse organisations/companies to plant and sponsor actions.

How did the government support the instrument?:

On one hand, Plan Boom helps to fulfill local and provincial goals. On the other hand, local and provincial governments help with e.g. funding or making sites available to carry out 'Plan Tree' actions. By acting together, the government and the local actors enable the realisation of greening plans.

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public national budget

Public regional budget

Public local authority’s budget

Corporate investment

Funds provided by non-governmental organization

Crowd-sourcing

National Postcode Lottery, individual donations

Budget:

1 000 000€ - 5 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

The National Postcode Lottery in the Netherlands contributes €2.25 million to the project. Additional funding comes from funds and donations from individuals and companies and co-financing of local activities from provincial and local governments.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The 'Plan Tree' initiative counts the number of trees planted by the Nature and Environment Federations and all affiliated partners.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

An annual report is made to the National Postcode Lottery. In addition, progress is evaluated every year (mid-term) for and by the project partners.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The goal is to plant 10 million trees. Until September 2022,1.7 million trees have been planted.

Success factors and lessons learned:

'Plan Tree' is a cooperation between many different parties, with a diverse offer: There is something for everyone to be able to participate. The flexibility during the heat of the corona pandemic added to the success of this initiative. The utilisation of available space on private land is another success factor: By involving residents, these untapped locations can be utilised for planting trees. The initiative uses a positive 'tone of voice' and spreads the message that planting together is fun. With 'Plan Tree' individuals are empowered to help fight climate change through small but important local actions. An online toolbox is provided with a handy set of information sheets, containing step-by-step plans and tips on how to get started with planting trees, how to organise a plant event or how to motivate the neighboorhood. The Plan Tree website also features a map where people can locate their planted trees. Anyone can add, from one individual tree in a private garden to larger actions. Besides the location and a photo, the number of trees, the tree species and tree age is mandatory. When planting new trees, the following best practices are adhered to: new plantings are taken care of for the first three years, trees must be able to stand for long periods in time, all trees are native and have to blend into the landscape and the environment.

Sources and further information

Further documents

Weblinks:

https://planboom.nl/

Photos

@J.Tillmanns