Community Carbon Trees
Platanillo, San José Province, Costa Rica · Nonprofit · Local · since 2010
Pays rural Costa Rican crews to plant and tend diverse rainforest trees for 25 years, 556,000 trees so far
About
Community Carbon Trees (ACCT) is a small nonprofit based in Platanillo, Pérez Zeledón, in Costa Rica's Southern Pacific zone. Founded by former environmental lawyer Jennifer Leigh Smith, it connects tree sponsors with paid local work crews, including a women's group of more than 44 members, who grow and plant diverse native rainforest species on family farms around San Juan de Dios and San José de Rivas and maintain them through a 25-year cycle. A sponsored tree costs 25 dollars. It also runs nursery days, planting tours and children's nature days.
What they run
Sponsors pay 25 dollars per tree to offset a ton of CO2; the money pays local crews to plant and care for the tree over a 25-year cycle.
Nursery in Platanillo where crews and visitors grow diverse native seedlings; hands-on nursery sessions are offered by arrangement.
Monthly nature activities for local children with arts, crafts and communal lunches.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per tree (USD) | 2026 | 25 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceWhere Your Money Goes page: 'Sponsor a 25 dollar tree and offset one ton of carbon dioxide' |
| Trees plantedto date | 2026 | 556,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceWho We Are page, Jennifer Leigh Smith section: 'plant more than 556,000 trees' over 17 years |
How they report
What earned it
- 0/20 Publishes annual tree figures: No year-by-year figures found
- 0/15 Figures are recent: No dated annual figure
- 10/10 Every figure has a public source: 2 of 2 figures link to a source
- 15/15 Publishes financials or cost per tree: Revenue or cost-per-tree figure on record
- 0/15 Reports survival or monitoring: No survival or monitoring figure
- 0/10 Independently verified figure: All figures are the organization's own
- 4/10 Breaks figures down by program: Programs named, figures not broken out
- 0/5 Reports volunteers or events: No volunteer figures or events
- Cost per tree
- $25.00 stated for 2026
- Compare
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Upcoming events
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