About Us
We are a team of environmentalists, educators, and researchers passionate about urban forests and the communities that share them worldwide.
Our Mission
Schools Are Forests is a community initiative dedicated to documenting, mapping, and celebrating the trees that grow on school campuses worldwide. We believe every tree tells a story — of ecological history, community care, and the living connections between students and the natural world.
Our Vision
A future where every school community — no matter where in the world — knows, values, and tends to the trees around them. Where students grow up understanding the ecological importance of their school forests, and where schoolyards become living classrooms for the next generation of environmental stewards.
Our Story
Schools Are Forests began with a simple observation: school campuses are home to hundreds of trees — oak, maple, eucalyptus, jacaranda — that go largely unnoticed and uncelebrated. These trees provide shade, clean air, and habitat for birds and insects, yet most students and teachers couldn't name a single tree on their campus.
We set out to change that, one school at a time, by creating detailed tree inventories that give each tree a name, a face, and a story. Our work has taken us across continents — and we're just getting started.
Our Team
Luisa
Velásquez Camacho
Co-Founder
Moreen
Willaredt
Co-Founder
Elizeth
Cinto Mejía
Co-Founder