Plant A Tree Today Foundation

The Plant A Tree Today Foundation or the P.A.T.T., was organised in November 2005 by Andrew Steel,[1][2] who established the organization as a means of combating ongoing deforestation in less-developed nations around the world through public education and tree-planting campaigns.[3] The group is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom since 2006.[4]

Shortly after its launch, PATT began to work with UK fundraising consultant The Midas Partnership, which assisted in the generation of the initial capitalisation of the group.[3] Fundraising activities were conducted both in the UK and in Thailand, a nation of primary conclern to the organisation.[3]

It is also a registered foundation in Thailand. Steel remains a Director of the foundation, assisted by Charlotte Whalley.

PATT works to raise awareness of global environmental issues, campaign for better environmental practices and take action against deforestation and climate change by planting trees. It implements tree planting projects and carbon offsetting with environmentally conscious businesses, provides environmental education to schools in developing countries, and funds community development projects in rural communities centred on tree planting and reforestation.

Reforestation projects sponsored by PATT attempt to generate broad participation among the affected communities. For example, a 2008 reforestation project in Phetchaburi, Thailand, brought together schoolchildren, monks, governmental officers, and local villagers with forestation staff in planting over 2500 trees.[5] Native tree species were replanted in a forest degraded by selective logging in an effort to restore animal habitat.[5] The restored lowland deciduous tropical forest was to be used in the future as a tool for future environmental education.[5]

In 2009 the Carbon Bank and Village Development Project sponsored by PATT was awarded a 2009 United Nations-backed SEED Award.[6] The SEED Initiative, founded by the United Nations Environmental Programme, the United Nations Development Programme and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, identifies and supports promising locally oriented enterprises in developing countries which are working to improve livelihoods and manage natural resources sustainably.[7]

The group's Carbon Bank and Village Development Project targeted 48 rural villages in Thailand, helping to establish community forests and a micro-finance system in each, managed by the local communities themselves.[1] Ultimately it is hoped that degraded land in these communities will be reforested and climate change lessened through the project, while at the same time village economies are enhanced.[1]

In 2012, PATT launched a programme to join with almost 600 primary schools in the UK to provide educational materials, including online lesson plans and activities to be downloaded by teachers and used in classes. The educational materials are linked with the national curriculum, allowing the future generation to become aware of climate change and the problems which come with global warming.

The programme includes an intranet site for students and teachers to communicate and view lesson plans, as well as being able to interact with others in the programme. Facts are supported by resources, such as live webcam and video sessions from the wildlife from the middle of the forests, showing the reforestation projects being carried out by PATT. Maps are also available to pinpoint on-going and future projects.