Seniors without Borders (SwB) is a Danish NGO of senior volunteers combating global hunger and poverty through locally rooted, sustainable projects. Guided by “help people help themselves,” SwB partners with local organizations to strengthen civil society across education, health, environment, and production. Founded in 2004 by Stig Elliot Nyegaard, the organization mobilizes seniors’ professional experience; all work is voluntary and unpaid.

SwB is a Danish national association with a board, four local departments, and permanent committees for projects, economy, communication, and fundraising. It is non-partisan, collaborates widely, and follows standardized procedures to ensure accountable use of membership fees, donations, and grants.

Together with Growing Trees Network, SwB runs Kenya and Uganda initiatives of planting trees at schools and supporting agroforestry.

• School planting: “Demonstration shambas” at schools let pupils plant trees and learn agroforestry/permaculture, aiming for year-round crop cover that provides school meals and shows how to tackle climate change. The program runs across districts with local NGOs and nurseries; schools use available land for kitchen gardens, involve parents, and spread knowledge as children bring practices home - helping counter drought-driven dropouts.

• Agroforestry with self-help groups: Near Mt. Kenya, farmer groups adopt shamba agroforestry - integrating trees with crops to protect soil, boost fertility, and diversify livelihoods (food, fodder, fruit, timber, honey). A local nursery supplies species; farmers receive practical training, sign care commitments, and plant in the two rainy seasons, with multi-year follow-up and low per-tree costs.

Seniors without Borders has been present in Kenya and Uganda for more than a decade helping local development.

Growing Trees Network's close collaboration with the Danish Nature Agency makes it possible for our sponsors to contribute to the establishment of some of the largest nature and afforestation projects in Denmark.

For the Danish Nature Agency, afforestation projects are about planting new forests, getting more nature, protecting drinking water reserves and offering recreational areas close to the city. New state forests are established through the purchase of agricultural land, which is then converted to nature and forest.

The purchase of land is done voluntarily, as the Danish Nature Agency buys up properties in the area as they are put up for sale. Therefore, a project typically extends over several decades. The projects are established in collaboration with local stakeholders, and in the newer projects, waterworks help to finance.

Once the areas have been purchased, the Growing Trees Network helps to find sponsors for the trees. In this way, the state funds go further and new afforestation projects can be started, faster. After the forest has been established, the Danish Nature Agency is responsible for the future care and operation.

You can see which of the Danish Nature Agency's afforestation projects we have supported the establishment of since 2018 here.

While close-to-nature forestry
is being phased out on many of the Danish Nature Agency's areas, there are still approx. 40,000 hectares that are managed according to the principles of close-to-nature forestry. It is a forestry operation that supports the forest's natural biological mechanisms and takes special account of biodiversity.

Focus on safeguarding and promoting biodiversity The
Danish Nature Agency focuses on promoting biodiversity in the close-to-nature forestry areas beyond what is determined by forestry according to close-to-nature principles.

You can read more about how the Danish Nature Agency pays special attention to biodiversity in the state forests here.