Tree-planting gifts compared: who lets you follow or visit the trees

Most tree-planting gifts come with a certificate and some kind of progress report, but far fewer let the recipient walk the land where the trees grow. Of the 16 providers we checked on 24 October 2026, six say that gift holders can visit the planting site, even with a single tree: EcoTree, Tree-Nation, the Woodland Trust, Eforests, the John Muir Trust and Reforest Iceland. In almost every case you visit the wood rather than one marked tree.

If following the trees online matters more to you than visiting them, two providers go furthest. Treedom sends each tree's geographic coordinates and a photo of the planting once it is planted, and EcoTree gives the GPS coordinates of every tree it sells. Most of the others report on the project as a whole rather than tree by tree, through maps, photos, satellite images or written reports.

Where the trees grow matters too. Iceland, where we plant, has the lowest forest cover of any European country apart from the microstates of Monaco and Vatican City: 0.6% of its land in 2025, according to the FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment, against 13.5% in the UK and 39.0% across the EU (Eurostat, 2023).

How the 16 providers compare

Last checked: 24 October 2026. Prices are for giving one tree, as shown on each provider's own site, in the currency shown.

Which tree gifts let you visit the trees?

Six providers say that gift holders can visit the land where the trees grow:

• EcoTree (France and Denmark): its forests are open to visitors, between April and October in France and all year in Denmark according to its gift page. Its FAQ gives April to August inclusive without naming a country, so check the dates before you travel. The trees are not physically labelled, but each comes with GPS coordinates.
• Tree-Nation (worldwide): it says all of its projects can be visited, by contacting the project, which sets its own rules. Since its projects range from Tanzania to Bolivia and Romania, a visit may well mean a long journey.
• The Woodland Trust (UK): its dedication woods are open to the public free of charge, and the certificate comes with a map of the dedicated area. The trees are not marked, and they are trees that are already growing rather than new plantings.
• Eforests (UK): it plants only on publicly accessible land, such as nature reserves and community woodlands. The trees are not marked, but its My Tree page shows the region, woodland, species and planting season for each certificate, and its FAQ promises directions and photos of the area.
• The John Muir Trust (Scotland): gift trees are planted at Glenlude or Schiehallion, and its gift FAQ welcomes visitors to the property, while saying it cannot show where each tree is.
• Reforest Iceland: every gift, from a single tree (EUR 14) to a woodland of ten trees (EUR 85), includes a welcome to visit Fagrabrekka, a working farm on Iceland's Ring Road, by arrangement with the farm. The rules are on our visiting page.

Five more offer visits in a narrower form. Trees for Life's trail network at Dundreggan lets you see examples of planted and regenerating woodland, though the gift tree may grow at another of its sites. Evertreen says one of its projects, in Madagascar, can be visited in person. The Gifted Tree's FAQ says you cannot visit your own tree, but its "See My Tree" locations, the first in Northern Michigan, say they will publish GPS coordinates once planting is finished, so you can visit the planting area, though it may not be easy to reach. Mossy Earth runs separate paid trips to its projects, and One Tree Planted offers planting events, on request, to company partners that have contributed USD 100,000 or more.

Which tree gift suits whom?

There is no single best tree gift; it depends on what the recipient will value. Based on what each provider says on its own site:

• To walk among the trees, even with a single gift tree: EcoTree in France or Denmark, the Woodland Trust, Eforests or the John Muir Trust in the UK, or Reforest Iceland on Iceland's Ring Road. Tree-Nation's projects can be visited too, but most are far from Europe.
• To know where each tree stands: Treedom (coordinates and a planting photo) or EcoTree (GPS coordinates).
• For the most trees for the money: Tree-Nation, Ecologi or Treeapp.
• For native trees in a UK wood: Eforests, the John Muir Trust or Trees for Life, or a dedication of an existing tree in one of the Woodland Trust's woods.
• To bring back woodland where Europe has least of it: Reforest Iceland, which plants mainly native birch, rowan and willow in the European country with the lowest forest cover apart from the microstates of Monaco and Vatican City. Acuparia, through the Panorama Glass Lodge, also sells individual trees in Iceland, and Mossy Earth has a project there, though its gift is a membership rather than trees.
• For rewilding beyond trees: Mossy Earth.

Why where the trees grow matters

A tree gift is also a choice of place. The table shows how much of the land is forest today in the main European countries where providers in this comparison plant.

Sources: FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025, via Our World in Data; EU average from Eurostat.

Iceland was not always like this. When people settled the country almost 1,150 years ago, birch forest and woodland covered an estimated 25–40% of the land, according to the Icelandic Forest Service, now part of Land and Forest Iceland. It puts the permanent loss at 95% of the original forest cover; by the mid-20th century, birch woods covered less than 1% of the country. Today forest covers about 2% of Iceland on the national definition, which counts trees that reach 2 metres, and native birch woodland makes up about 1.5% of the land. On the FAO's definition, which counts trees able to reach 5 metres at maturity, the figure is 0.6% (Land and Forest Iceland, November 2025). With the trees went much of the soil: the Government of Iceland says 39% of the country is subject to considerable or extensive soil erosion.

Two things cut the other way, and they are worth knowing. Trees grow slowly in Iceland's cool climate: on our family farm in Skagafjörður, land that was largely treeless in 2000 is woodland today, so think in decades rather than years. And we are not the only ones planting here. Mossy Earth runs a reforestation project at Galtalækur, near Hekla; One Tree Planted has funded at least two projects with the Icelandic Forest Service; Tree-Nation lists a birch project near Hekla that was still under validation, with no trees planted, when we checked; and Acuparia, an Icelandic non-profit foundation, plants trees through the Panorama Glass Lodge, at EUR 60 for a tree with a named metal tag, a photo and GPS coordinates, or EUR 20 for a tree with a gift certificate, in an area it says is open to everyone.

What to check before you buy a tree gift

The price of one gift tree ranged from EUR 0.35 before VAT (Tree-Nation's cheapest trees, in Tanzania and Kenya) to GBP 20 (the Woodland Trust and the John Muir Trust). Most of that gap seems to follow where the trees go and what comes with them: the cheapest trees are planted in the tropics and mostly reported on at project level, while the dearer ones stand in named European woods you can walk into, or come with a record for each tree. Neither is wrong, but it is worth knowing which one you are buying. Five questions help:

1. Is a new tree planted at all? The Woodland Trust's dedications are of trees that are already growing. Trees for Life says the gift tree will be nurtured through natural regeneration or planted. The National Trust's GBP 10 donation could help to plant a tree. All three are honest about it, so read the wording.
2. Where exactly? A named wood or farm is easier to check than a region or "where it is needed most". Treedom's terms let it choose the species and country if the buyer does not pick a species, and change either if planting as ordered becomes impossible.
3. Are the species native? One Tree Planted, Eforests, the John Muir Trust and Trees for Life say they plant native trees, and The Gifted Tree says its planting partners choose trees native to each area. Several others mix species or do not say.
4. What proof, and at what level? A photo and coordinates for each tree (Treedom), coordinates only (EcoTree), or reports, maps and satellite images for the project as a whole (most others).
5. What does the gift claim about carbon? Since 27 September 2026, EU consumer law bans claims that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive climate impact because of offsetting (Directive (EU) 2024/825). Several providers already say plainly that their trees are not an offset, among them the National Trust, EcoTree, Evertreen on its gift page and Ecologi.

Where Reforest Iceland fits

We are a young project and would rather say so plainly. We planted our first 120 trees at Fagrabrekka in September 2026, and trees bought now go into the ground between mid-May and the end of June 2027, or between late August and the end of September 2027 if the ground is not ready. A gift certificate names the farm, the species and the planting season, but not one individual tree, because we plant and document by plot. The trees you pay for are native downy birch, rowan and willow; where the soil requires it, we also plant larch or other hardy species. We make no carbon claim for trees bought by individuals.

What we offer, as EcoTree and several of the UK woodland charities also do, is the land itself. Fagrabrekka lies on the Ring Road between Reykjavík and Akureyri, and anyone with trees there, from a single tree to a woodland, including those who received them as a gift, is welcome to walk it, by arrangement with the farm. We also film the planting areas by drone and share satellite images of them once or twice a year, in spring and late summer, so the change can be seen from a distance too. I grew up planting trees on our family farm in Skagafjörður, and walking a young wood you helped plant is, in my experience, a different thing from reading a certificate about it. If that is the gift you have in mind, start here; if it is for staff or clients, see company gifts.

How we compared

We opened each provider's own website on 24 October 2026 and took the cheapest option for giving one tree, as displayed, in the currency displayed; Treedom and Mossy Earth prices are as shown to a visitor in Switzerland. "Not stated" means we could not find the point on the provider's own pages, not that it is impossible. We left out providers whose price for a single gift tree we could not see. Mossy Earth sells gift memberships rather than trees; we include it for comparison but not in the price range. Forest shares are the FAO's 2025 figures as published by Our World in Data, rounded to one decimal; the EU average is Eurostat's figure for 2023. Prices and policies change, and we will check this page again every quarter. If you spot an error, write to contact@reforesticeland.com and we will correct it.

Questions people ask

Can you visit a tree you were given as a gift?

Usually you can visit the wood but not find the individual tree, because most providers do not mark trees. EcoTree gives GPS coordinates for each tree and opens its forests to visitors (seasonally in France, all year in Denmark), and we welcome anyone with trees at Fagrabrekka, even a single gift tree, by arrangement with the farm.

Can you follow a gifted tree online?

Yes, with some providers. Treedom sends coordinates and a planting photo for each tree; most others, including Tree-Nation, Ecologi, One Tree Planted and Treeapp, report at project level.

Which country in Europe has the least forest?

Apart from the microstates of Monaco and Vatican City, Iceland. Forest covered 0.6% of its land in 2025 on the FAO's definition, or about 2% on Iceland's own, against 39.0% across the EU in 2023, according to Eurostat. An estimated 25–40% of Iceland was birch woodland when it was settled.

Is a gifted tree a carbon offset?

Generally not. Several providers say so themselves, and since 27 September 2026 EU law bars traders from claiming that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive climate impact because of offsetting.

Can a company give tree gifts to staff or clients?

Yes. Treedom's minimum for a one-off business order is 20 trees, EcoTree tailors offers from 100 trees, and we plant from 10 trees, with a certificate for each person or one for all your clients.