Green contribution

Mongolia loses the steppe.
We are planting it back.

Every journey we run touches a fragile country. So the lodge runs on sunlight, the vehicles carry their own water, nobody drives off the track, and every guest leaves a few trees behind at Big Sky.

Plant with us on your journey Corporate offsetting

Plant with us

Three dollars a tree. Choose the number.

Trees

Plant trees at Big Sky Lodge

USD 3per tree, planted and cared for three years

Three dollars plants one sapling at Big Sky Lodge in Terelj National Park, watered and protected for three years by the herder families we work with. Choose how many. A certificate with the planting spot follows by email, to you or to the person you name.

Choose any number, from one tree to a grove
Planted in the spring and autumn windows, watered three years
Certificate by email, and a photo report each summer for groves of fifty or more

Trees

90 kWp

Off grid at Big Sky

The lodge, Khangar Restaurant and the stables run on a 90 kWp solar array and batteries. No generator, no grid, hot water in every room.

412

Trees in the ground

Planted at Big Sky Lodge with our guests, aligned with Mongolia's national Billion Trees pledge. Goal: two thousand by 2030.

Zero

Single use plastic

Refillable water systems on every vehicle and at every camp. All waste carried out of protected areas.

On track

No off-track driving

Permitted routes and camp sites only in Gorkhi-Terelj, Gobi Gurvansaikhan and every park we enter. Minimum approach distances for wildlife.

Social and governance

Mongolian first.

Guides, drivers, coordinators and hospitality staff are Mongolian employees, with training invested every season. Herder families, monasteries and sacred sites are visited with informed consent and paid directly and fairly. Corporate clients receive greenhouse gas accounting per trip to the GHG Protocol, structured to consolidate into their own reporting.

Trees with every journey

Ask your host to plant with you at the lodge, or we plant on your behalf and send you the photograph.

ii.

Community benefit

Local procurement, local guide engagement and community events wherever we operate, from Terelj to the Gobi.

iii.

Fleet decarbonisation

Hybrids as the default in the city, electric joining the pool, and route planning that cuts empty kilometres.

Billion Trees, National Campaign

Mongolia loses the steppe.
We are planting it back.

76.9% of Mongolian land is affected by desertification. In September 2021, President Khurelsukh addressed the UN General Assembly with a national pledge: one billion trees by 2030. Rara Avis plants, monitors, and grows those trees at Big Sky Lodge through our Roots and Retreats initiative. Every guest adds one more.

Plant a tree, $15 Corporate forests

412

Trees planted at Big Sky Lodge

Goal 2030, 2,000 trees

THE CRISIS

Mongolia is losing the steppe, faster than anywhere on earth.

76.9% of Mongolian land is classified as degraded or desertified by the national environment agency. A generation ago the figure sat under 40%. The trajectory is vertical.

Reforestation is the single most cost-effective response. Mongolia's President pledged one billion trees to the United Nations by 2030. Every tree we plant counts toward that pledge.

We are not planting trees for decoration. We are planting them because the steppe cannot hold itself any more.

Minister of Environment, Ulaanbaatar, 2024

76.9%

of Mongolian land degraded or desertified, per the national environment agency

1,244

lakes and rivers dried up since 1980 across the Great Lakes Depression

-28%

national forest cover since 1990. Fire, logging, overgrazing, climate stress

trees by 2030, pledged by President Khurelsukh at the UN, September 2021

FROM YOUR CLICK TO A TREE IN THE GROUND

Four steps. Fully documented.

A physical tree in the ground, a certificate in your hand, GPS coordinates you can visit. No offsets, no vouchers, no third-party brokers. No greenwashing.

Sponsor your tree

Pick a tier, name your tree or grove, add a gift recipient if it is a present. Orders received before April 15 plant in May; before September 15 plant in October.

Rangers plant it

Our on-site team and certified forestry partners plant at Big Sky Lodge in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. Siberian Pine, Siberian Elm, or Yellow Acacia, chosen by soil and elevation.

GPS registered

Each tree is geo-tagged and registered with the Tov Province forestry department, counting toward the official Billion Trees programme. Photographed on planting day.

Certificate delivered

Within five business days you receive your named certificate, the GPS coordinates, and the planting photograph. Visit Big Sky Lodge any time and a ranger will take you to your tree.

THE RARA AVIS FOREST

Growing in Terelj since 2022.

One place, one project, one ranger team. The Rara Avis Forest sits at 1,645 metres inside Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, an hour east of Ulaanbaatar. Every tree sponsored on this page is planted here and monitored by the same team.

Location

Gorkhi-Terelj NP

Elevation

1,645 m

Grove area

18.6 hectares

Planting since

May 2022

Ranger monitoring

Year-round

412

TREES PLANTED

Every one named, GPS logged, and visitable. Goal by 2030 is 2,000.

94%

SURVIVAL RATE

Verified at 24 months. Higher than the national reforestation average of 60%.

NATIVE SPECIES

Siberian Pine, Siberian Elm, Yellow Acacia. All hardy, all native, all selected by our forestry partners.

47.98

GPS COORDINATES

Degrees North, 107.45 East. Visit any time with a ranger and we will take you to your tree.

PLANT YOUR TREE

Choose your grove.

Every tier plants physical seedlings at Big Sky Lodge, Arkhangai. GPS coordinates, certificate, and 24-month monitoring come standard. The larger the grove, the deeper the connection.

Sapling

1 tree

$25 USD

one-time contribution

+Digital certificate with GPS

+Species assignment

+Planting-window update

+24-month survival tracking

Plant my tree

A tree, a certificate, and the coordinates to find it.

Every sponsor receives a printed certificate with the recipient's name, planting date, GPS coordinates, and species. The physical document is posted after the tree is in the ground, not before. Digital copies are sent the same week.

Named certificate

Printed on archival paper with Mongolian border motif and Rara Avis seal.

GPS coordinates

The exact point where your tree stands, accurate to within three metres.

Species identification

Siberian Pine, Siberian Elm, or Yellow Acacia, assigned by soil and elevation.

Survival update

Geo-tagged photo at month 12 and month 24 confirming the tree is alive.

Visit invitation

Any guest staying at Big Sky Lodge can find their tree with a ranger.

Rara Avis

Certificate of Planting

BIG SKY LODGE . ARKHANGAI . MONGOLIA

THIS CERTIFIES THAT

[ your name ]

has planted a living tree in Mongolia's national reforestation programme, aligned with the Billion Trees pledge to the United Nations.

COORDINATES

47.98 N 107.45 E

SPECIES

Siberian Pine

ALTITUDE

1,645 m

PLANTED

May 2026

Rara Avis . Official Seal

THE GROVE . BIG SKY LODGE

A real place with real boundaries.

Every tree in the programme is planted in one place: the Rara Avis Forest at Big Sky Lodge in Arkhangai Province, 47.98 degrees north, 107.45 degrees east. Rangers monitor the grove year-round and submit planting records to Mongolia's Ministry of Environment.

Location

Arkhangai, Mongolia

Elevation

1,645 m

Grove area

18.6 hectares

Planting since

May 2022

Ranger monitoring

Year-round

Survival verified

94% at 24 months

SPECIES MIX IN THE GROVE

Siberian Pine

45%

Siberian Elm

35%

Yellow Acacia

20%

Species are selected by soil depth, elevation, and windward exposure on the advice of forestry engineers at the National University of Mongolia.

LIVE GROVE COORDINATES

47.9834 N . 107.4521 E

visit with any ranger during your stay

CORPORATE PROGRAM

Plant a forest for your team.

For companies, conferences, and private groups who want to leave Mongolia with more than photographs. We dedicate a named grove at Big Sky Lodge in your organisation's name, plant a tree for every attendee, and deliver individual certificates with GPS coordinates for each one.

Documentation is aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), so your ESG team can file it without rewriting a single line. Trees are planted and monitored on the same schedule as the public program. No offset vouchers, no resale, no third-party brokering.

Named grove

A dedicated section of the Rara Avis Forest registered under your company or event name.

ii.

Individual certificates

Every participant receives their own tree certificate with coordinates, species, and planting date.

iii.

Physical grove marker

A carved hardwood plaque installed on site, visible to any guest staying at Big Sky Lodge.

iv.

ESG-ready documentation

SDG-aligned impact report with methodology, survival data, and audit-quality records.

For corporate programs: [email protected]

FREQUENTLY ASKED

Everything you need to know.

A fair question deserves a complete answer. Here are the ones guests, partners, and ESG teams ask us most often.

Is my tree actually planted, or is this an offset scheme?

Every tree is a physical seedling planted by our ranger team at Big Sky Lodge, in Arkhangai Province, at 47.98 degrees north, 107.45 degrees east. It is not a carbon offset, not a voucher, and not a third-party credit. You receive GPS coordinates for the specific tree you sponsored.

How does this connect to the President's Billion Trees campaign?

Mongolia's national pledge, announced in 2021, is to plant one billion trees by 2030 to combat desertification. Our forest is a private contribution to that national target. Our planting records are submitted to the Ministry of Environment as part of annual reforestation reporting.

When exactly are the trees planted?

Mongolia has two viable planting windows: late April to early June, and early September to mid-October. Trees sponsored outside those windows are held in our nursery and planted in the next open window. Certificates reflect the actual planting date, not the sponsorship date.

What is the survival rate, and how do you verify it?

Our current verified survival rate is 94 percent at the 24-month mark, measured by physical count with geo-tagged photos. The Mongolian steppe average sits closer to 60 percent. Trees that fail are replaced at our cost in the following season, and the original certificate stays tied to the replacement.

Can I visit the tree I sponsored?

Yes. Any guest staying at Big Sky Lodge can visit the grove with a ranger, find their tree using the GPS coordinates on their certificate, and take their own photo. Guests on private journeys can request a grove visit as part of their itinerary at no additional cost.

What species do you plant, and why these three?

Siberian Pine for long-term carbon storage and wildlife habitat, Siberian Elm for drought resilience and fast canopy, and Yellow Acacia for soil nitrogen fixation and erosion control. All three are native to Arkhangai and selected on the advice of forestry engineers at the National University of Mongolia.

Can I gift a tree to someone else?

Yes. During checkout you can enter a recipient's name and email. We send them a personalised digital certificate with your message, and the physical certificate is mailed to the address of your choice once the tree is in the ground.

Do you offer corporate or conference volumes?

Yes. For any order above 100 trees we dedicate a named grove, install a physical marker on site, and deliver a single audit-quality report alongside individual certificates. Contact [email protected] for a quote, lead time, and SDG documentation.

PLANT YOUR TREE

The steppe is waiting. Add your tree.

Every tree sponsored today joins the next planting window at Big Sky Lodge, receives its own GPS coordinates, and enters the 24-month monitoring program. You can sponsor a single tree, gift one in another person's name, or fund an entire grove for your team.

Sponsor a tree Corporate program

412 trees planted . 94% survival . 2,000 tree goal by end of 2026 . Open planting window: May and September

Mongolia loses the steppe.We are planting it back.

Three dollars a tree. Choose the number.

Plant trees at Big Sky Lodge

Off grid at Big Sky

Trees in the ground

Single use plastic

No off-track driving

Mongolian first.

Trees with every journey

Community benefit

Fleet decarbonisation

Mongolia loses the steppe.We are planting it back.

Mongolia is losing the steppe, faster than anywhere on earth.

Four steps. Fully documented.

Growing in Terelj since 2022.

Choose your grove.

A tree, a certificate, and the coordinates to find it.

A real place with real boundaries.

Plant a forest for your team.

Everything you need to know.

The steppe is waiting. Add your tree.

The fire is already lit.

Mongolia loses the steppe.
We are planting it back.

Mongolia loses the steppe.
We are planting it back.