Sunlight through a Nigerian community forest

Igbehinadun Agroforestry · Aratu

Restoring Forests. Empowering Communities. Protecting Our Future.

Igbehinadun Agroforestry works with communities to restore forests, protect biodiversity, promote sustainable agriculture, and create resilient livelihoods through nature-based solutions.

The Challenge

Nigeria's community forests are disappearing

Degradation is driven by poverty, limited awareness, and insufficient capacity for sustainable management. As forests thin out, so do medicines, foods, soils, incomes and the indigenous knowledge held by the communities around them.

Lost biodiversity

Rare and endemic species vanish before they are documented.

Fragile soils

Erosion by wind and water strips farmland of productivity.

Climate exposure

Storms, flooding and heat hit rural households hardest.

Fading knowledge

Herbal and cultural plant knowledge disappears with elders.

A herbal practitioner examining medicinal leaves in the forest

Who We Are

An indigenous, membership-based community organization

Igbehinadun Agroforestry (I.A.), also known as Aratu, was founded in 2000 and registered with the Ekiti State Government in 2008. It brings together farmers, agroforesters, herbal practitioners and rural community members committed to protecting community forests.

Healthy forests create healthy communities. We are not simply planting trees — we help communities protect their natural heritage while creating sustainable livelihoods, preserving indigenous knowledge and building resilience against climate change.

More about us

What We Do

Six areas of practice

Traditional knowledge combined with practical conservation, agroforestry and enterprise development.

01

Forest Restoration

We work with communities to restore degraded forests through indigenous tree planting, forest enrichment, land reclamation, and the multiplication of rare and threatened plant species.

02

Agroforestry

We promote the integration of trees, crops, and other agricultural activities to improve environmental resilience, biodiversity, soil health, and agricultural productivity.

03

Biodiversity Conservation

We identify, document, protect, and multiply indigenous flora and fauna while supporting communities to become stewards of their natural environment.

04

Climate-Smart Agriculture

We train farmers and communities in agricultural practices that improve resilience to changing weather conditions while supporting food security and sustainable livelihoods.

05

Community Livelihoods

We help communities develop sustainable enterprises based on forest products, agriculture, value addition, and other nature-based economic opportunities.

06

Environmental Education

We educate young people, farmers, women, and community members about conservation, climate change, sustainable resource use, waste management, and environmental stewardship.

Community members working together on forest conservationSustainable agroforestry practices in Nigerian communities

Our Impact

Measured in forests, and in families

Organization-wide figures cover all of our work since 2000. Project figures describe the Agbado-Ekiti community project only.

Organization-wide

250,000+

Hectares of forest restored

Organization-wide

12,000+

Women and youth trained

Organization-wide

8,000+

Households benefiting

Organization-wide

20,000+

Indigenous seedlings raised and distributed

Agbado-Ekiti project

27 ha

Forest restored through the Agbado-Ekiti community project

Agbado-Ekiti project

200

Men and women trained through the Agbado-Ekiti project

See our full impact

Get Involved

Healthy forests create healthy communities

Donate, partner, volunteer, or support a forest community directly.