The TreesForDev consortium project organized a hybrid Kickoff Seminar on October 24, 2023 at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland. During this seminar we presented an overview of the project, “The socio-ecological and politico-economic dynamics of ecological restoration through tree planting schemes in the global South” (TreesForDev). We also introduce our research team in Finland and our partners in the countries where we will do the research.