Since the start of Oboz Footwear in 2007, we have planted a tree for every pair of footwear sold. As of this April 2024,  we have planted over 6 million trees in partnership with Trees for the Future (TREES). 

Photography courtesy of Trees For The Future.

The One More Tree program also spans its reach to Oboz Footwear retailers. 

Contributed by: Esther du Crocq, Retail and Education Marketing Manager

Our One More Tree events hosted at Oboz Footwear retailers have expanded our tree-planting efforts, involving more of our community members. For limited timeframes, when you simply try on a pair of Oboz Footwear at a specific local retailer, we will plant a tree. Often, these events celebrate new product launches, store grand openings, Earth Day/Month, community hikes, etc.

We encourage our retailers to spread the message to their customers and in doing so, further support Oboz tree planting goals.

Just last month (March 2024), we did six One More Tree retailer events in Texas and planted 246 trees. There is another retailer in Hawaii hosting its 3rd annual tree-planting event this month.

The planting of six million trees has sequestered over 186,965 metric tonnes of CO2; calculated through tree and soil estimates per acre over 20 years. 

In 2020, we began a four-year project in Tabora, Tanzania.  

The four-year project consisted of 3 stages:

In the first 1-2 years, the farmers learned how to protect, stabilize, and segment their fields by growing “fertilizer” trees and a “living fence” - a protective barrier.

In years two and three, they diversified their fields with a vegetable and fruit tree portfolio to meet the family’s nutritional needs and market opportunities.

In years three and four, the farmers learned about advanced Forest Garden management and conservation techniques to optimize the long-term health and productivity of the land. 

As a result of the 4-year project, 517+ farmers have been trained, over 2.5 million trees were funded that benefited the community.

Beyond the Tabora region of Tanzania, TREES plants in grassroots projects in East and West African countries. In the mountains of Mali and Kenya, the trees protect soil and provide livelihoods for hillside communities through fruit, livestock feed, and natural fertilizers. In the arid lands of Senegal and Tanzania, fruit trees combined with vegetable gardens enable impoverished families to end their chronic hunger. This Forest Garden Approach has proven to increase farmers’ income by 400%. 

TREES was recently recognized by the United Nations as one of the best large-scale ecosystem restoration efforts on the planet and one of seven UN World Restoration Flagship organizations. The prestigious Flagship Award is part of the UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to ensure that measurable progress is made on the UN’s environmental goals by 2030. 

We are already looking forward to the NEXT 6 million trees that we will plant with you.

Written by Abigail Cook with contributions from Esther du Crocq

For more information on Oboz sustainability goals head to our commitments page.