The motto of greenlimba gGmbH is: “planting life”.
The greenlimba forest is a generational forest. A Forest of Justice. An animal forest. A fire forest. A drinking water forest. A north-south forest. A food forest. A migratory bird forest. A forest of life. A climate forest. A forest of the future.
The greenlimba forest is your forest.
The greenlimba Team
The greenlimba Team
The German founders of greenlimba, Marion von Oppeln and Lars Bessel. The couple lives and works alternately in Kamakwie / Karene District and in Nortorf / Wilstermarsch.
The project managers of greenlimba on site in Sierra Leone are Saidu Sesay (left) and Anthony Jacob Turay. The two perfectly combine local knowledge of both man and nature, pedagogical talent, expertise and, above all, they have long dreamed of a return of their rainforest.
A dozen employees are currently working in West Africa to raise the young trees and transplant them, as well as to protect any remaining rainforest enclaves.
The employees of the Ministry of Forestry in Kamakwie are also very interested in the new greenlimba rainforest. Same for the District Council as a political regional government, they make every endeavor tosupport the work of the German company.
Two Continents, One Goal
Two Continents, One Goal
The German greenlimba founders Marion von Oppeln and Lars Bessel have been active in Sierra Leone for many years, both professionally and voluntarily, but above all passionately. They know the country and the mentality of its people and have excellent contacts to decision-makers in the region.
It all began in 2017, when the illustrator and journalist were researching for the first German-language travel book about Sierra Leone “No food for a lazy man” and landed at Freetown’s Lungi International Airport. Three weeks of adventure travel between the Atlantic and the rainforest also brought them to Kamakwie, the capital of the Karene District. They first founded an association called Mahmoo e.V. to support the vocational centre SEVOC. Two years later, the North German couple opened their successful social business there
LIONBAG
which distributes carrier bags made from used cement sacks in their own sewing workshop throughout Europe.
The destruction of the last tropical rainforest in West Africa, which they could not ignore, finally led Marion von Oppeln and Lars Bessel to launch their environmental protection company greenlimba in 2022. The two see themselves as idealists, their commitment is passionate but still realistic. Together with responsible persons and experts from Sierra Leone, they therefore created the conditions for a successful start of their ambitious forest projects in 2021, which took place in the summer of 2022 and has been successfully continued since then.
In 2023, the non-profit “greenlimba Förderverein Deutschland” was founded. While “greenlimba GmbH” sells CO2 bonding certificates to business customers, the association collects donations from private individuals. This has a great advantage for the donors in particular: they save cash. The association does not have to collect VAT and donations are tax deductible. The project is being implemented in West Africa by another non-profit NGO, the greenlimba Foundation Sierra Leone (GLFSL).
Since May 31, 2024, the company has also been a non-profit organization and has been operating under the name greenlimba gGmbH.