KETSO

Plant A Tree Now ensures tree planting and management through an agreement with KETSO B.V. (KETSO Company limited). This company specializes in ecological tree planting and works with local farmers in Sierra Leone. KETSO is a well-established forestry company that has been in operation since 2004. Both KETSO and Plant A Tree Now were founded by Dr. Eamonn Hanson and are part of his dream to provide Sierra Leone with a "green" legacy. Eamonn is not a member of the board of Plant N Boom to avoid a conflict of interest with KETSO. KETSO and Plant A Tree Now are partners, but they remain independent organizations. In the unlikely event of bankruptcy, Plant A Tree Now will not be held responsible for KETSO or vice versa. Assignments from Plant A Tree Now to KETSO will be made "at arms length." This means that both parties must account for transactions at commercially available prices.

Click here for the KETSO website.

Origin story by founder Eamonn Hanson

My name is Eamonn Hanson. I am from Sierra Leone and I am passionate about helping my country with sustainable development. My father always had the dream of setting up a farm, but due to the conditions in Sierra Leone, he never achieved it. In 2004, I travelled to Sierra Leone and started a tree nursery to revive my father's dream.

Ever since I was a child I dreamed of a developed and prosperous Sierra Leone. I saw the opposite happen: in 1991 the country went into a terrible civil war and in 2014 it was hit by the Ebola epidemic. In 2017, in the capital Freetown, almost a thousand people lost their lives as a result of huge landslides. Events that had a major impact on the country.

When I was thirteen, I moved to the Netherlands. I went to school there and completed my studies in Psychology. After graduating, I worked for the National Aerospace Laboratory for several years. After the events of 11 September 2001, the aviation industry collapsed and I lost my job. Not much later, I decided to go back to Sierra Leone to start a tree nursery.

I wanted to plant trees in the village of Makombeh. A village with only four hundred inhabitants that was almost cut off from the outside world and where the educational foundation and tree company now bear its name. After my arrival, I immediately fell in love again with the lifestyle and nature of the area. The community found my idea strange at first, but nevertheless helped me by providing land. Friends made it possible for me to purchase materials for a school and have a bridge built for Makombeh. The school was built by the residents themselves, and thanks to a friend who wanted to be a guarantor, the first teacher was able to receive his salary. Thus was born the small elementary school that has now grown into a full-fledged school with six classes and 200 students. The arrival of the school prevents children from having to travel a long dangerous way to other villages to attend classes. The school is managed by the Makombeh Foundation. It takes care of the teachers' salaries and the materials for the school.

By now, the first young people had finished their school careers and were looking for new opportunities. Some of them came to me with the idea of setting up a cooperative to save forests in their area. That is how KETSO came into being.

KETSO buys up poorly maintained farmland and plants new trees that restore the landscape. The CO2 captured by the new forests is offered as so-called "carbon credits" on international markets. This gives the opportunity to buy a piece of CO2 reduction. Thanks to the enterprise, the youth of the village have the opportunity to work in the growing, pruning and planting seasons. As a sustainable enterprise, KETSO not only contributes to CO2 reduction, but also provides opportunities for the local population.

Watch Eamonn's video here.