FIGARO DEMAIN – French companies are offering this solution to absorb CO2 emissions and preserve biodiversity.
Gironde, Bouches-du-Rhône, Brittany… This summer, many fires broke out all over France. In all, 62,000 hectares burned, six times more than the annual average between 2006 and 2021, according to data from Effis (European Forest Fire Information System). To remedy this destruction and preserve biodiversity, some French companies offer individuals and professionals the opportunity to buy trees to plant.
This is the case of EcoTree, which launched its activity in 2016. On its site, the company has created a collection for “restore burned forestswith a target of 100 hectares. So far, 1.83 hectares have been financed by 174 people. “Contrary to our model, which is usually to own the land, we will only provide financial and technical assistance to private owners to restore their burnt land.“, points out EcoTree.
Giving meaning to investments
On the platform, it is also possible to buy individual maritime pines, sessile oaks and maples that are planted in France or Denmark. Prices vary between 18 and 29 euros per unit. To justify this price, EcoTree does not hesitate to compare tree planting to wine: “We know that good wine costs more because it takes work. If we want resilient, productive, beautiful and healthy forests, we have to pay the right price.“In France and in Europe, “a tree does not cost one euro, but rather fifteen“. The company thus calls on buyers to be wary of attractive offers, which would not be virtuous for the environment.
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Once the purchase has been made, you have to wait for the tree to grow so that it is able to capture CO2. But “not all trees absorb as much carbon over their lifetime. Thus, some softwoods grow much faster than some hardwoods and absorb much more CO2. But since their life is shorter, they store less during their existence“says EcoTree. According to Théophane Le Méné, one of the four co-founders, “the balance of a forest is based on the intergenerationality of the trees. Young and old, they contribute to the ecosystem“. Once the tree has been cut, after 50, 60 or 100 years depending on the species, the buyer receives a return on investment of approximately 2% per year. With EcoTree, “customers actually own their trees but not the land», emphasizes Baudouin Vercken, one of the co-founders. The company thus has more than 1.5 million trees under management and is committed to monitoring plantations “on the long term“.
This reforestation solution appeals above all to professionals, such as Société Générale Private Banking, which observes “growing demand from its clients to give meaning to their investments“. “A tree can be planted for every 10,000 euros investedsays Jean-Christophe Jouannais, the bank’s sustainable finance engineer. In three years,more than 100,000 trees have been associated with our clients’ investments“, he completes. On EcoTree, companies represent 80% of buyers. But a similar craze is emerging on the side of individuals, like Charles, 30, who owns 40 trees: “I am expecting a child and I would like to give him a tree a month from birth.»
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Planting trees is also an investment for the planet. In 2019, an IPCC report recommended planting 1 billion hectares of forest in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2050. The search engine Ecosia, which donates all of its advertising profits to actions in favor of the climate, participates in this dynamic. About 80% of its income goes to planting trees and 20% to green projects. Founded twelve years ago, Ecosia has already planted more than 150 million trees in around thirty countries.
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