Better Globe Forestry

Better Globe Forestry Ltd (BGF) was incorporated in Kenya in 2004. Its vision is to plant as many trees as there are human beings on the planet over the three to four decades to come while its mission is to make Africa a greener, healthier and wealthier place in which to live, by focusing on the development of profitable, commercial tree plantations that will deliver environmental as well as humanitarian benefits. Focus is on the planting of Melia volkensii (mukau) for the tree's high-quality timber, which will be used to produce superior finished products locally.

The vision of BGF is to eradicate poverty in Africa and care for the environment, by planting as many trees as there are people on the planet.

Our mission is to develop a holistic, sustainable and commercial forestry enterprise by involving people from all over the world to support our work in Africa because;

• We realize that planting trees is caring about people and the environment
• We create wealth for local people, among them a significant percentage of women
• We improve rural livelihoods through assistance to Partner-farmers with agroforestry, microfinance, education and water supply
• We work in semi-arid land, not suitable for agriculture production, where we make the biggest difference for the communities, with our agro-ecology model
• We will create massive employment by processing and exporting African wood products.

In 2006, BGF Ltd started a pilot project for a first major tree plantation of 5,000 hectares in the area around Kiambere Dam on the Tana River. The land belongs to Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA). The area has a very high unemployment rate with over 65% of the people classified as among the absolute poor.

In 2008, Better Globe Forestry Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sosoma Ranching Cooperative Society (SRS) for the industrial afforestation of 60,705 hectares of land with indigenous tree species. The document is further under-signed by the then District Commissioner and the District Co-operative Officer, both representing the Kenya Government. The species targeted in this challenging area is today also Melia volkensii (mukau). Implementation of the plantation has been delayed in order to overcome some legal-administrative and technical challenges but all is being done in this respect and the project is still very much alive although delayed.