About Trees for Hope
The Charity was born out of the need to respond to the ecological, social, and personal despair in the Fertile Crescent. Our journey began from a desire to help with the necessary transformations so that the land could recover fully to its natural intelligence. We offer the processes, skills, tools and means needed to initiate the ecological recovery and personal / social transformations. Together with our partners and volunteers we are engaged in the rewilding processes in the Wider Fertile Crescent* and a demonstration project in the rainforests of Scotland.
*The Wider Fertile Crescent is the geographic region of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, etc. There is an open invitation from Trees for Hope to the people living in these areas to co-create a network of rewilding our lands and ourselves.
the first Ecovillage Design Education course in Iran
November 2017 we taught the first Ecovillage Design Education course in Iran
Online Earth Healing Webinars
September and October 2016 we held a series of online Earth Healing Webinars to connect with various active environmentally concerned people and organisations in the Fertile Crescent and Europe.
Trees for Hope is registered as a Scottish Charity
September 2016 Trees for Hope is registered as a Scottish Charity, our legal body is created
investigative journey to Iran
investigative journey to Iran, Pupak and Alan Watson Featherstone to seek out allies in the field of earth restoration. Made numerous connections with environmentally concerned entities
Our Vision
The Wider Fertile Crescent area is restored to full ecological health with all the native constituent species and people living in harmony and balance with the land. We envision a transformation from barren, brown landscapes to lush green ecosystems with rich fertile soil and abundant water.
Based on a deep personal connection with and care for the land and formed by mastery of arts and crafts, bioregional networks of ecovillages and communities are self sufficient with regenerative agriculture, sustainable energy, transport, and circular economies.
We collaborate with the larger planetary networks of organisations and civil societies while soulful medicine, education, and culture feeds various needs within the network.
Our mission
*Trees for Hope will assist in the emergence of a bioregional network of ecovillages and communities engaged in rewilding themselves and their local ecosystems in the Wider Fertile Crescent area.
* This will be achieved by shared positive and practical ecological restoration work, drawing on local knowledge and wisdom.
*We aid in removing the illusory barriers of separation, so a path will be revealed for the regeneration of the area and the restoration of its natural fertility.
*We offer practical work to rejuvenate the land, accessing the experience of the existing networks of ecovillages and rewilding projects, which provides creative opportunities for healing the self, the history and cultural divides.
*We create a bridge between the Wider Fertile Crescent and the rest of the world to allow for a healing exchange enabling love, peace and hope to be manifested.
- Rewilding with oneself and nature
- Rewilding
- being one with Nature
- Reconnect
- Activating the Potentials
- Revive
About the team
We are a diverse team, coming from backgrounds of rewilding, holistic science, water and communities, psychology, and social sciences. The combination of our expertise and passion to serve the purposes and missions of Trees for Hope makes a potent group to deliver our work.
Pupak Haghighi
Founder and Project Coordinator
Pupak is passionate about wholeness, be it people or places. She finds connecting with nature a deep source of healing. For her, initiating Trees for Hope was a natural response to heal the ecological and human damages she had witnessed in her environments.
Alan Watson Featherstone
Trustee
Alan Watson Featherstone is an ecologist, nature photographer and inspirational public speaker. In 1986 he founded the award-winning Scottish conservation charity, Trees for Life, and was its executive director for almost 30 years. During that time it became the leading organisation working to restore the Caledonian Forest in Scotland and took on ownership of the 10,000 acre Dundreggan Estate in Glenmoriston as its flagship project for native woodland recovery.
Minni Jain
Trustee / Director
For over 25 years MINNI JAIN has been working with communities to regenerate their landscapes and lives. She is the Operations Director of The Flow Partnership, working on community-led management of droughts and floods across Africa, India and Europe. Minni is also on the boards of the Biodynamic Land Trust, the Agroforestry Research Trust and the Berkana Institute, USA.
Philip Franses
Trustee / Director
After finishing a maths degree at Oxford, I came to a turning point in my life – either settle for a for the glittering career in finance or instead, follow a feeling of whole potential.. This led me to buying a bicycle to ride towards Africa, a six month trip which convinced me that Europe should match its technological advancement with spiritual maturity.
Bahar Ghafelehbashi
Trustee
Bahar is born in Iran, in city of Tehran and has been living in Canada for the past 22 years. A registered psychotherapist working mostly in Toronto and a student of consciousness from an early age. Her main mission in life is weaving cultures and wisdoms of the world as steps towards healing of our human relationships in relation to all sentient beings.
We will be engaging with the community in Glenuig, Moidart on the west coast of Scotland to revive the Atlantic Rainforest. A tiny remnant of the ancient oak woodland still stands here. However this fragile ecosystem is endangered by two threats:
From the blog
Latest News and Information
Effects of Rewilding
Rewilding is a choice to direct our agency and all our powers, talents, resources, to reconnect with nature, to learn from it, and to recover with nature
Trees for Hope Website Renewal
We are pleased to announce the renewal of our official website on September 11, 2023. Through this renewal, we have changed the entire design to make it easier for you to access the required information.