By Lori D. Roberts Wiggins, photography by Liz Condo
Colin Camu left his corporate job at an international paper company in 1997 to start Leaf & Limb, a traditional tree-cutting service in West Raleigh. His goal was simple, but life-changing: spend more time with his family, homeschool his children and make memories. He didn’t envision the business would evolve into a mission for environmental sustainability.
In 2010, his son Basil Camu joined him at Leaf & Limb. With a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a background in finance, Basil used his skills in web building, marketing and other areas to help distinguish Leaf & Limb. With his father, the “small mom-and-pop-type” business developed into a profitable 50-employee operation, making it one of the largest tree services in the state.
Basil’s personal philosophies also evolved over those years, and he realized bigger isn’t always best. Numbed by the ecological harm caused by deforestation, and intrigued by ideas of how to shift the business’s focus to healing the earth and restoring life, Basil urged a shift away from cutting down trees to focus on more sustainable practices such as structural pruning, securing existing trees, planting new ones and doing soil work.
“So much of our revenue was coming from tree removals,” he says “We’d cut down beautiful oaks and pines to make way for new lawns.” The more he learned about the role of trees in the ecosystem, the less the company’s practices aligned with his values. “We were destroying the very engine that drives the planet,” he says.
In 2019, he led a groundbreaking transformation of Leaf & Limb, from tree cutting to tree care. “We only care for trees now – we plant them and educate people on their importance,” Basil says. “By working with natural systems, rather than against them, we save time, money, and manpower, while contributing to the healing of the earth.”
The shift wasn’t an easy one. Some employees left. There was pushback from customers who insisted on removing old-growth trees for aesthetic reasons. “We could not convince them otherwise,” Basil recalls. “That was disappointing.”
The move was Dad Approved. “I like the direction that we’ve taken. I’m all for being a good steward of what’s given to you, and I think we should be at least responsible for the resources we have,” says Colin Camu, who remains in charge of training and education. Everyone employed at Leaf & Limb participates in a five-year program to become a certified arborist. “We shouldn’t be out there clear-cutting.”
Within a year of the change, tree cutting had declined to 40% of Leaf & Limb’s revenue, down from 60%. In 2020, Leaf & Limb announced its commitment to no longer cut down trees. While the decision cost the company business, Leaf & Limb regained its previous revenue levels by 2023. The company now employs about 54.
Leaf & Limb has both transformed its own business and is helping the Triangle reconnect with its natural environment, one tree at a time. It happens through Project Pando, a grassroots nonprofit Basil founded in 2020 that is dedicated to growing and sharing native trees in the region.
The name is inspired by the huge, 80,000-year-old Pando colony of quaking aspen trees in Utah, the largest living organism in the world. “Just like the roots of the trees in the Pando colony are all connected, we humans should understand that we are all connected, we share resources – and what’s good for one is good for all,” Basil explains. With a focus on collecting native tree seeds, growing them into saplings, and distributing them for free to the community, Project Pando spreads awareness about the vital role of trees in our environment, and encourages hands-on community involvement.
“Native trees are a key part of what makes the Triangle feel like home,” says Emmanuel “EB” Brown, co-director of Project Pando. “The trees themselves are quiet, but their value is immense.” Native species, like oak, dogwood, and Longleaf pine, provide vital food and shelter for local wildlife, including insects and birds.
To increase the availability of native trees, Project Pando enlists volunteers to collect seeds from over 80 species of native trees. Instructional videos, online tools, and tree identification outings teach volunteers how and when to gather seeds.
Collected seeds are dropped off at various locations, and then transported to Project Pando’s growth sites: a 2-acre plot at Leaf & Limb’s property and a 16-acre one at Triangle Land Conservancy’s Bailey and Sarah Williamson Preserve in Southeast Raleigh. There, seeds are planted and raised in air-pruning boxes.
Once the trees reach about 6 to 36 inches, they are donated to volunteers to plant at home or in their neighborhoods, as well as to schools and nonprofit organizations. “We’re creating this pipeline of native trees to help other people heal our local ecosystems,” Basil says. Last year, about 15,000 trees were given away.
To help, Basil also authored “From Wasteland to Wonder,” a book that shares the blueprint for Project Pando and provides essays on the importance of native trees in urban and suburban landscapes. The book is available for free on Leaf & Limb’s website.
“We just want to grow this idea and give it away,” Basil says. ■