How Kenes Group Turns Business Travel Into Trees (Yes, Literally)
In the global events industry, business travel is simply part of the job. Thousands of flights, millions of miles, countless scientific communities brought together. But behind every trip sits an unavoidable reality: travel has a climate cost.
Kenes Group decided to turn that cost into something regenerative. Something that grows.
As part of their 60th anniversary, Kenes launched the Kenes Forest, a large-scale tree restoration initiative in partnership with Treebytree and supported by MeetingLinq. Their goal was simple and powerful:
Offset every employee business trip while restoring degraded landscapes in Tanzania, a region where reforestation directly supports farming communities and revives ecosystems under pressure.
This is not just carbon accounting.
This is restoration.
It is regeneration.
And it is the story of how one organisation made its milestone anniversary matter for the next generation.
Why a Forest? Why Now?
Kenes employees travel the globe to bring scientific communities together.
But with great mileage comes great responsibility.
So instead of asking, “How do we compensate?”
Kenes asked, “How do we give back?”
Tree restoration became the obvious answer.
Not symbolic, not distant but practical, community-led, measurable, and alive. Because when you plant trees, you don’t just neutralise impact, you grow something that outlives the problem entirely.
A Global Team, Unified by… Tree Check-Ins
When Kenes introduced the initiative internally, something meaningful happened.
The team leaned into responsibility. Sustainability has long been part of the Kenes culture, and the forest gave employees a concrete way to acknowledge their footprint and take shared ownership for reducing it.
The Kenes Forest turned accountability into action by giving something back.
Employees now follow the forest’s growth after every trip, seeing how many trees were restored, how much CO₂ is being sequestered and how their contribution supports land regeneration in Tanzania. It has made one truth unmistakable inside the company:
If travel is part of your work, responsibility for its impact is non-negotiable.
With that mindset, the forest became a collective commitment to doing better.
More Than an Anniversary Project — A Living Legacy
Anyone can celebrate a milestone with a campaign.
Kenes chose to celebrate with a forest.
A living system that will keep growing long after the 60th-anniversary celebrations end.
A space where biodiversity can return.
Where soil revives.
Where farmers are supported.
Where every tree tells a story of impact.
That’s legacy, the Kenes way: not what you look back on, but what you leave growing forward.
Rethinking Travel in the Events Industry
The meetings industry runs on global mobility.
Flights aren’t disappearing anytime soon.
But responsibility?
That can take off today.
Kenes believes that taking regenerative action is a simple, immediate step companies can take while working toward their long-term sustainability goals and that leadership means acting, not waiting.
And in doing so, they’ve become a blueprint for what responsible travel can look like in practice.
A Partnership Rooted in Impact (and Real Numbers)
- clear, real-time impact dashboards
- tree restoration grounded in Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration
- and a journey that feels empowering with clear positive impact.
As Kenes puts it:
“It feels less like working with a vendor and more like working together for something bigger.”
Final Words From Kenes Group
“We are proud to mark our 60th anniversary with a project that reflects our values and creates a legacy of real, measurable change. The Kenes forest initiative goes far beyond compensating: it revives degraded land, nurtures ecosystems, and empowers communities.”
— Elena Fis, Sustainability Manager, Kenes Group
Curious How to Bring Treebytree Into Your Own Campaign?
If this story sparked ideas for your organisation, we would love to help you bring them to life. Whether you want to offset business travel, enrich an anniversary celebration or build a regenerative initiative your team can rally behind, Treebytree makes it simple, transparent and meaningful.
Feel free to reach out directly to dominika@treebytree.earth
Let’s grow something remarkable together!
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