Meet the farmers helping to reforest Timor-Leste

The WithOneSeed programme in Baguia, Timor-Leste, employs over 980 subsistence farmers to reforest land using village-based nurseries. By planting 200,000 trees and removing over 80,000 tonnes of CO2, the initiative has generated more than $400,000 for the local economy through the sale of 45,000 Gold Standard certified carbon credits. The programme utilizes a technology platform called TreeO2, which uses RFID tags and satellite sensing to track tree growth and carbon storage, increasing transparency and reducing audit costs. Supported by a €3 million contribution from the European Union, the programme aims to expand across other municipalities in Timor-Leste.

• The WithOneSeed programme operates as a community social enterprise that establishes village-based nurseries and provides annual incentive payments to small landholders for planting and maintaining trees. As of the report, more than 980 subsistence farmers participate in the programme, which has resulted in 200,000 trees being planted.
• The programme has achieved significant environmental and economic results, removing over 80,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. This has allowed for the sale of 45,000 carbon credits, injecting more than $400,000 directly into the Baguia village economy. For some subsistence-farming families, these incentive payments double their annual incomes.
• To improve efficiency and transparency in carbon credit certification, WithOneSeed implemented the TreeO2 technology platform. This system uses RFID tags on trees and membership cards for farmers to track data such as GPS location, species, and carbon stored, which is then integrated with remote satellite sensing.
• The programme provides a model for diversifying the Timor-Leste economy, which has historically relied on oil and gas reserves. To scale this model, the European Union delegation in Timor-Leste provided €3 million to expand the programme into other municipalities.

APA

Mahar, A. (2021). Meet the farmers helping to reforest Timor-Leste. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-farmers-help-to-reforest-timor-leste-withoneseed/

Chicago

Mahar, Andrew. Meet the farmers helping to reforest Timor-Leste. World Economic Forum, 2021. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-farmers-help-to-reforest-timor-leste-withoneseed/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mahar |first1=Andrew |title=Meet the farmers helping to reforest Timor-Leste |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=26 January 2021 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-farmers-help-to-reforest-timor-leste-withoneseed/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mahar2021meet, author = {Mahar, Andrew}, title = {{Meet the farmers helping to reforest Timor-Leste}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-farmers-help-to-reforest-timor-leste-withoneseed/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }