Communi-Trees

What if… we planted fruit trees and native trees across all estates in Camden, and beyond?

What if… young people living on these estates were employed to care for the trees?

What if… we collaborated with UCL and Camden Council to create a soil map of Camden, allowing residents to grow their own food?

Communi-Trees is a climate action and ecological justice project which engages local residents, particularly under-represented young people. Communi-Trees connects local residents with nature, acting as a springboard for further climate action and helps to reduce and adapt to the impacts of climate change through increased tree coverage.

But Communi-Trees is also about much more than just planting and growing trees, it is growing community. We have worked with 13 estates and hundreds of residents, planting more than 300 fruit trees and native ornamental trees across the borough of Camden. Could your estate be next?

2024/2025 – our 4th Communi-Trees Iteration!

We have had another exceptional Communi-Trees season, planting 90 trees (60 of them fruit trees) across 4 estates in Camden. We are employing 7 more young people to look after the new trees. We have also been organising pruning days and tree care training, upskilling our KOKO Young Foresters. Along with this, we have painted murals, created signs for the trees, planted wildflower meadows, made fresh apple juice and enjoyed delicious plant-based food cooked by local young peopl

We are grateful to all of the TRA’s and residents we have worked with for making this project such a success. We would also like to thank the KOKO Foundation for their fantastic support of this project and look forward to rolling this out across the borough of Camden and beyond over the coming years.

Background to Communi-Trees

This project began in 2022, when the KOKO Foundation sponsored the launch of the Communi-Tree pilot with the planting of 18 mature trees at the Peckwater Estate, NW5 and the Goldington Estate, NW1. Two young residents, Musa and Sadiya took on the role of becoming the first KOKO Young Foresters and looked after the trees on their estates

Since then, we have planted hundreds more trees at Templar House NW2, Maitland Park Estate NW3, Bayham Estate NW1, Regents Park Estate NW1, Bourne Estate, EC1N, Clarence Way NW1, Abbey Estate and Mortimer Estate NW8, Westcroft Estate NW2, Constable House NW3 and Sidney Boyd Court NW6. Have a look at the map of all of our greening projects here.

Can you imagine if all our estates across London were planted with Communi-trees that were looked after by paid young foresters living on the estate? We say, let’s keep it local. Ultimately, we hope to see the Communi-Trees model being implemented across all London boroughs, as well as sharing this learning nationally to inspire further roll out.