The quarterly newsletter of Trees for the Future
Winter 2007 Vol. XV, No. 4
Senegal: Fueling the Fire of Peace
Though the rains are ending and all of this year's trees have been planted, Omar's work has just begun. He can't rest on his laurels, and there is no time for a vacation. He knows what a dry season can do to devastate a lot of hard work, and he is making sure that these trees are protected.
Peace Corps The US Peace Corps has been a strong ally in this program in central Senegal. Omar was asked to give the opening speech at a Peace Corps counterpart workshop last week, and he spent much of the last week working with new volunteers and their counterparts, helping them to establish goals for the year ahead. Omar has been assisting with the placement of Peace Corps Volunteers for the past few years. This year, TREES project has received five volunteers placed within 30 miles of our Agroforestry Training Center. in Kaffrine. The training center is becoming a hub of knowledge for the region.
Fire Prevention Just as the US fire season has increased by 78 days over the past two decades, so have the brush fires throughout Senegal. Though serious brush fires can happen at any point between now and May, Omar knows that the worst damage happens between December and February. The brush remaining on the ground from the last rainy season turns into a tinderbox Biofuels waiting for a flash. When President Abdoulaye Wade announced his 're"Though many efforts can go up in flames" explains Omar in Wolof, "we begin planning for fire at the point when the seedlings are first put into the ground. We encourage all those planting trees to clear weeds around each seedlings at a distance of about 50 cm, and we also help communities rake and clear firebreaks around the perimeter of all reforestation areas." While prevention is critical, Omar's team needs to be ready in case a fire starts. "Much of our network of farmers planting trees are along the roads that connect our training center to the other villages. The 34 nursery trainees I am working with in surrounding villages also serve as scouts. If we see smoke, the rush begins with rakes and we try to put out the fire." Khady Ndao, the leader of the girl's club in the village of Ngodiba, planting trees in her village.
Page 1 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
continued on page 4
Johnny Ipil-Seed News is the quarterly newsletter of TREES FOR THE FUTURE, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people of the world’s poorest communities to begin environmentally beneficial, self-help projects. This newsletter is printed by wind energy on recycled paper with soy-based ink and is sent to all supporting members to inform them of recent events, plans, financial matters and how their support is helping people.
Opinion: Credibility - A Big Job for the Rupee Center
Looking back at this year, we see some major changes taking place, most of them, we think, for the better. With a big planting season BOARD OF DIRECTORS just ahead, we think you, Dr. John R. Moore, Dr. Peter Falk, Mr. Oscar Gruspe, Mr. Dave Deppner, Mr. Bedru Sultan, Ms. Marilou Herman who make our work possible, should know what's on ADVISORY COUNCIL the horizon. Mr. Franz N. Stuppard, Advisor on Haiti First is the surprisingly Dr. Mizani Kristos, West African Development fast growth of your proDr. James Brewbaker, University of Hawaii Mr. William Campbell, Seasoned Energy gram over the past two Mr. Steve McCrea, Global Climate Change, FL years, especially the time Dr. Malcolm Novins, George Mason University after Katrina wiped out New Orleans. In that year, Dr. Pascal Woldemariam, Greener Ethiopia 2005, your program planted about 2,400,000 trees Dr. Noel Vietmeyer, The Vetiver Institute around the world. In 2006 it nearly doubled to Mr. Sean Griffin, Forestry & GIS Specialist Mr. Mark Dafforn, National Academy of Sciences 4,300,000 and so far this year to more than 7 million. Mr. Tebabu Assefa, Advisor on Ethiopia The projects themselves are bigger and, we believe, Mr. John Leary, Advisor on Senegal better now, because planning is possible on more of a Mr. John Kyle, Advisor on Business Management long-term view. In the Ethiopian program, for example, we started one FOUNDERS Dave and Grace Deppner single project that planted about 2,250,000 trees. We believe this to be the single largest private-initiative STAFF reforestation project in the world at this time, and Corrie Mauldin because it succeeded, it will grow even faster in the Gorav Seth year ahead. Already new communities in Ethiopia are Maryann Manuel Brandy Lellou asking to join in. Francis Deppner We are also participating in the United Nations "Billion Tree Program" which is collecting data on tree FIELD TECHNICIANS planting intiatives around the globe. To date, they have Louis Nkembi, Cameroon received confirmation of over 544 million trees plantDr Yigezu Shimeles, Ethiopia Jorge Betancourt, Honduras ed by groups around the world, and our work has been Guillermo Valle, Honduras featured on their website. Subramanian Periyasamy, India In that same time, our membership has also more than Sagapala Gangisetty, India doubled. TREES now has more than 7,000 good Mohammed Traore, Mali friends making all this possible. That group of friends Gabby Mondragon, N. Philippines Dr. Ron Soriano, S. Philippines is growing fast. The recent Global Mala, conceived by Omar Ndao, Senegal our good friend Shiva Rea in California, throws a whole new light on the thinking of people around the To receive this newsletter or for more information, contact: world about what's happening to the environment. TREES FOR THE FUTURE Shiva Rea's idea was to have Yoga practicioners colThe Loret Miller Ruppe Center for Sustainable Development lectively form a "necklace around the world," as a P.O. Box 7027 Silver Spring, MD 20907 means of bringing attention to the critical issues facing Toll Free: 1-800-643-0001 our world, and to entities, including TREES, that are Ph: 301-565-0630 creating solutions. The events raised tremendous info@treesftf.org awareness, and many of the participating yoga studios www.Plant-Trees.org Page 2 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
have become supporting members of TREES. tree planted? NO, the cost remains ten cents for every All this to the good but many people, including our permanent, beneficial tree. And we believe that the cost supporters, express their concern, and understandable will continue to go down because the increased crediconcern, about the constantly growing threat of global bility in your program will allow it to gain more particclimate change. The claims and counter-claims going ipants. around lately, as more people come to the realization As the scientific community maintains, there is very that this is a most serious issue, have brought on a great little time left to significantly address this triple threat number of new groups claiming to of environmental destruction, addichave programs that will "offset" tion to fossil fuels, and the resulting It's a slow beginning but changes in our global climate. But greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the work has already these campaigns don't tell you much. the outrageous claims, the finger For example, one airline says if you pointing, the disinformation now started to make all this pay them $5.00, you can fly to your going on is not going to make that happen. Equipment such destination without causing more happen. as GPS locators, comput- It can, and will, happen when we carbon emissions. While most people understand, cor- ers and digital cameras, can provide better information, show rectly, that tree planting under the convincing success stories, to a conare being provided to our right circumstances offers a very cerned world, With that, all of us can people in the field. practical solution, the army of determine the best courses for future wannabe tree planters that has sudaction based on real information denly formed seems unable to do so. about successful models that are showing what is posAll these happenings, plus the need to present this sible. program as clearly as possible to you, our members, With your help TREES will be able to make a real and has convinced us we need to do a better job of getting vital contribution to the future all of us share. Please information both to the people planting your trees - and help all you can. We especially need some things to to you, who make their efforts possible. Speaking for send to our people worldwide. Should you have, or the participants in these faraway villages, we need to find, any used computers, GPS locators, or digital camprovide more and better technology, better planning eras, our people in the field can make good use of ideas, making the reward to the participants even them. That way, you're helping plant more trees. greater, so more communities join in, more trees get planted, and the projects do more good both for the environment and for the participating communities. For you, our members, we need to provide more information about the projects themselves. If, for example, you "adopt" a village project, we intend to make available to you the exact location of that village - so that you can dial up the image on your computer, and be provided with photos of the work in progress as well as the numbers of families participating. How many trees and what kind of trees were planted? Why did people start the project? What problems did they overcome - and how? What did they learn? And above all, would they do it again? It's a slow beginning but the work has already started to make all this happen. Equipment such as GPS locators, computers and digital cameras, are being provided to our people in the field. We are finding and trainDave speaking at the Los Angeles Global Mala ing more good field technicians in the several countries where this is beginning. Will all this raise the cost per Page 3 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
Senegal: Fueling the Fire of Peace (cont’d)
tour vers l'agriculture' ('back to agriculture') effort to build a biofuel industry in order to develop alternative energy and create jobs for the thousands of young people that are currently risking their lives in search of opportunities in Europe, he sent his advisors to the countryside to analyze the situation. On a dirt road seven hours away from from the capital, his advisors found Omar Ndao with a crowd of farmers at our Agroforestry Training Center. They learned that Omar has been working on Jatropha biofuels for long before the President launched the program, and overnight a farm boy became a 'friend' of the President. Jatropha curcas is a popular drought tolerant shrub that produces seeds containing over 37% oil. Jatropha grows well in dry, degraded areas, and the oil can easily be processed into biodiesel. In 2007, Omar has planted 30,000 jatropha seedlings, including 14 beautiful hectares where he and his pilot farmers have planted a variety of other trees. Many of the seedlings were
sent to a town called Khelcom, a center of jatropha activity promoted by the Senegalese government, and Omar has been invited to visit their work in the coming weeks. Our work with Omar in Senegal is a great demonstration of what is possible with long-term, grassroots development. This program will keep growing, and will become stronger every year, as more and more families join in.
Omar and his entourage distributing trees (top right, bottom left), and two children playing in a local nursery (bottom right)
Page 4 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
Haiti: Out of Crisis Comes Opportunity and Hope
Forward: The plight of the Haitian people continues to be a major concern, not just for TREES but for all of the people of the Americas. We are haunted by our remembrance of two things, one of a boat overturned on a beach in Florida with the bodies of 18 Haitians - men, women, and small children, lying in the surf. The second was three years ago, after a hurricane passed Haiti and dropped torrents of rain on the denuded uplands above Gonave. The photos we received showed women walking past rows of stacked bodies - victims of the resulting mudslides - looking for their lost relatives. This is the desperate situation of one of our closest neighbors. What we have been able to do there over the past three years has been little enough. The danger has been great - especially for the community leaders we want to help. We have held back, not because we didn’t want to help but because we didn’t want to tie targets on people’s backs. For a year now that has slowly been changing. Dave and Franz Stuppard went there in early 2006 and saw plenty of villages wanting to begin projects. There has been a great change in attitude, a growing feeling of confidence among organizations in the US and Haiti. Recently, Franz returned to his homeland, this time accompanied by Rich Waite of our staff. They arrived on the front edge of another hurricane. Despite that, they met with 16 organizations ready and waiting for our support. Here is Rich’s report:
You have no doubt heard it before: Haiti is a country in down significantly over the past two years, and while severe environmental crisis, and it is no coincidence we were there we met many people doing good things that it is also in economic and social crisis. You have – and others who want to do great things. With them – also probably heard that when flying over the island of farmers’ groups, NGOs, businessmen, and government Hispaniola, it is easy to make out the border between officials – we developed strategies to initiate sustainHaiti and the able agroforestry D o m i n i c a n and reforestation Republic: Haiti is projects, and we brown and barren; intend to establish a the D.R. green and base and hire inlush. You probably country field repreknow that Haiti has sentatives in early only three percent 2008. of its original forest Some of our meetcover, and that it is ings were informal, the poorest country with people standin the Western ing in a circle under Hemisphere. Bad the shade of a tree. news coming out of This was the case in Haiti has become the hillside village commonplace. of Bethel, where we However, all is not spent time with lost in Haiti. This community elders to became evident to discuss the reforme in August, when The hillside above St. Marc, on the left, is a highly visible spot that will estation that TREES be reoforestred in the coming year, as a demonstration site. helped to start in I went down with Franz Stuppard of 2006. Likewise, we our Advisory Council to see if we could expand our spent some time walking through the tree nurseries of efforts in the country. Recently, due to the difficult Robert Garcon in Verrettes, whose group currently proconditions in the country, our support had been limited duces 20,000 tree seedlings per year and gives them to long-distance training and seed packages. On our out free to students in schools. With help from trips, we found that the situation in Haiti has calmed TREES, including training in continued on page 6 Page 5 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
Haiti: Out of Crisis Comes Opportunity and Hope (cont’d)
barestem nursery production, his group could consider- officials, an agricultural engineer, and local farmers. ably ramp up its tree production and reach more stu- The mayor’s team has conceived a community sensitidents and farmers in the coming year. zation and reforestation project and would like to plant We met with ODEC, a farmers’ group in Arcahaie, one million trees working with TREES, other NGOs, who are interested in reforesting the hillsides around peasant organizations, and youth. Together, we identitheir town. They had already started tree nurseries but fied the denuded hillside overlooking downtown Saint had given up because of problems with polythene bags Marc – with an old French fort at its summit – as a pos– the bags were too costly to buy and too heavy and sible starting place for the reforestation project, as it is expensive to transport. We gave them materials show- visible to the whole town, as well as to motorists on ing how to plant nurseries without polythene bags, National Route 1. We intend to establish an office and using the barestem method. The group wants to con- training center in Saint Marc starting in early 2008. tinue working with us and would Officials at Cabaret City Hall like seed and training before the were also very aware of the enviJatropha could provide next rainy season begins. ronmental situation and the grave farmers with a source of dangers of deforestation. They are We held formal meetings in the City Halls of Cabaret and Saint income and Haiti with a currently working with an agriculMarc, two cities along the Arcadine tural engineer and have conceived Coast north of Port-au-Prince. domestic source of diesel a community-wide reforestation Although this coast is similar to fuel. More research is need- project similar to that of Saint Hawaii’s Kona Coast in latitude, Marc. ed to ensure that it would be ecosystem and topography, there is At our final meeting in Port-aua big difference – the mountains on economically and environ- Prince, we met with representatives the Arcadine Coast no longer have of peasant groups, local NGOs and mentally beneficial, but trees. The landscape is striking – trained agricultural engineers. We with the Matheux mountain range there is a lot of excitement discussed each group’s interests on the right converging with the and needs, and exchanged ideas on about Jatropha production in Bay of Port-au-Prince on the left – how best to initiate reforestation but the mountains are badly denudprojects in Haiti, and how to ensure Haiti now. ed, and the beach resorts dotting the that the projects will be sustainshoreline have been largely abandoned. able. Participants also met each other and were able to We stayed a few days in the city of Saint Marc to sur- network. In all, we distributed over 30,000 seeds of vey the site as a potential base of operations. Saint multi-purpose, fast-growing (MPFG) trees, as well as Marc itself is a telling example of what environmental training materials in English and Creole. devastation has done to Haiti. Not too long ago, it was Everyone in Haiti is aware of the serious environmena nice bayside town of 15,000 people, with beautiful tal, economic, and social dilemmas that exist, and they New Orleans-style mansions gracing wide streets. know that to attack one, we must attack all three. Now Saint Marc is an anarchic city of 150,000, mak- Planting MPFG trees – as well as cash crops such as ing it the fifth largest in Haiti. The mansions are dilap- Jatropha (see below) and food crops in an integrated idated and the crumbling streets are overrun with system – is an effective way to start. With training and impromptu markets, honking motorcycles, colorful demonstration plots, farmers will see the benefits of taptaps and other vehicles. The surrounding hillsides, tree-planting. Only in this way can this really be a once lush, are dry and desert-like. As one Haitian grassroots movement, and only in this way can it be farmer put it: “Due to deforestation of our hillsides, our sustainable. With our partners in Haiti, we have conceived a fourmountains have no more trees, our farmers are leaving the mountains for the cities, and the mountains them- pronged project: selves are falling into the seas!” We held a meeting at Saint Marc City Hall with city Page 6 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No.4
Haiti: Out of Crisis, Opportunity and Hope (cont’d)
1. Hillside reforestation. Devastating floods in the cities of Gonaive and, recently, Cabaret have made the danger of deforested hillsides obvious. We will use several species of MPFG trees to stabilize the land, allow integration of food and cash crops within the protected areas, and encourage the natural return of indigenous species.
2. Sustainable charcoal production. Over 80% of Haitian farmers make charcoal. We will show farmers how they can produce charcoal sustainably, using species that will grow back when cut, and reforesting areas where trees have been cut down.
domestic source of diesel fuel. More research is needed to ensure that it would be economically and environmentally beneficial, but there is currently a lot of excitement about Jatropha production in Haiti.
4. Agroforestry interventions for intensive hillside farming. Alley cropping, contour farming with edible crops, live fencing, windbreaks, and other “traditional” agroforestry interventions would all greatly benefit Haitian farmers. However, we think the first three components are the most realistic ways to attract farmers to the program initially. We hope that farmers will be more open to these agroforestry interventions once they see, and benefit from, the positive effects of tree-planting. The will to save the land, and the people who depend on that land, is there. It is imperative that we take action together. We hope to go back to Haiti early next year, in time to plant nurseries before the next rainy season.
3. Jatropha production for biofuel. Jatropha curcas, called the “medicine tree” in Creole, grows wild in Haiti and has recently been heralded as an ideal biofuel crop, due to its adaptability to poor soils and prolific production of seed high in oil. Twothirds of vehicles in Haiti use diesel, as it is 40% cheaper than gas in the country. Jatropha could provide farmers with a source of income and Haiti with a Please join us in helping Haiti become green again!
The city of Betel (left, foreground) is relatively lush compared to the barren hillsides that surround it. On the right is a close-up of the degraded lands that surround the town.
Page 7 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No.4
Holiday Gifts:Plant a Tree!
Send a Tree Planting Certificate to friends and loved ones this holiday season. This gift will help improve the livelihoods of people struggling in rural communities around the world.
We will send a personalized tree-planting certificate in someone's name, as well as a description of the project and community where the trees are being planted. These certificates have supported the planting of over 500,000 trees in 2007! You can order a certificate online at www.plant-trees.org.
Feedback from our Agroforestry Training Program
Here is a recent email from a participant in our distance agroforestry training program:
I have attached my answers to the examinations of your Long Distance Agroforestry Training Program I have been taking. I am very impressed with the interactiveness (especially the illustration of situations) of the training manual. Together with the Agroforestry Test, the packet captures the reader’s attention towards the content while, in so doing, gaining deep insight as to how agroforestry is actually carried out on the ground. For instance, we previously thought that agroforestry is entirely about providing tree seedlings to local communities to plant (scatter) them wherever and however they felt appropriate. Whereas this may be appropriate, we have learnt (in this program) and this is only a small part of a whole array of other techniques, known as ‘Agroforestry technologies’, such as alley cropping, living fences, windbreaks, fodder banks and woodlots etc. It is very interesting to learn to identify which ones will benefit the farmers (and how), the tree species appropriate for each agroforestry technology and the preparation guidelines in each case. Kalulu Anthony, Organic Perspectives Kamuli,Uganda
To take part in this free training program, send an email to training@treesftf.org, or call us at 301-565-0630.
Page 8 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No.4
Cameroon: Four Weeks of Mutual Learning
In August, Corrie Mauldin, our Cameroon Program Mr. Nkembi distributed seed earlier this year to these Coordinator, traveled for nearly four weeks throughout Southwest groups and they have grown 230,000 western Cameroon to evaluate our revived (as of seedlings for transplantation to date. Seed was distribJanuary of 2007) tree-planting program in the country. uted by TFTF to only the Southwest NGOs in March Over 29 days Louise Nkembi, TFTF Cameroon Field of this year (we did not yet have contact with groups in Representative, Robin Ache, Louis’ colleague, and the West and Northwest). Corrie traveled through the Southwest, West and Although the NGOs in the Northwest and West Northwest Provinces of Cameroon. They gave one and Provinces are more experienced in agroforestry, the two-day workshops and field practicals in each province, attended to by local NGO leaders and farmers. In the Southwest Province they conducted workshops with 10 NGOs and 100 farmers, with two NGOs and fifteen farmers in the West, and 18 NGOs and 30 farmers in the Northwest. The NGOs’ focus is largely agricultural, environmental, and rural development and all have experience or interest in agroforestry as a lowcost way to improve the environmental and economic situation in rural communities. The workshops in each province were very productive and beneficial for both the local NGO leaders and farmers. The NGO management workshop led by Mr. Nkembi gave NGO leaders critical insight into the knowledge and skills needed for the successful creation of local and region-wide collaboration on building an agroforestry network throughout the three provinces. The tree nursery management and transplanting workshop was enhanced by hands-on practicals in the field. Many farmers and NGOs expressed their interest in the low-cost tree-planting techniques TFTF presented, and wanted to receive hard-copies of Planting Calliandra trees as part of a hands-on training the presentations. session in SW Cameroon The Southwest Province groups we met with were not as familiar with agroforestry techniques because of workshop groups still gained a lot from the presentatheir overall lack of interest in tree-planting in a region tions and field demonstrations, and contributed to both that is perceived as heavily forested. This is an illusion, the workshops and demos with their own suggestions however, because under much of the tall tree cover, from personal tree-planting experience. land has been cleared for continual cash crop farming It was in the Northwest that the team visited two outthat has contributed to soil erosion and declining fertil- standing agroforestry training centers: the Twahntoh ity – particularly on steep hillsides. Several NGOs that Mixed Farming Group (MIFACIG) in Belo, and the participated in the workshops did express the need for Riba Agroforestry Resource Center (Riba) in agroforestry in some Southwest farming areas that Kumbo. Both of these centers agreed to be a part of the have shown distinct degradation, and were interested overall agroforestry network Mr. Nkembi and TREES in furthering their tree-planting for the next season. are creating throughout the Southwest, West and TFTF’s program currently works with NGOs in five of Northwest, with NGOs and community leaders includthe six Southwest divisions. It is through these local ing the groups that participated in our workshops. They NGOs that the Cameron Program is reaching the max- offered their facilities and expertise for future trainings imum number of farmers who would benefit most from and their seed banks for seed purchasing and dispersal for the Northwest Province. basic agroforestry practices. Page 9 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No.4
continued on page 10
Cameroon: Four Weeks of Mutual Learning (cont’d)
MIFACIG focuses on sustainable management of natural resources for poverty alleviation through training farmers on diversified agroforestry activities such as grafting, marcotting, vegetative propagation. Its central nursery holds around 40,000 agroforestry, timber and fruit seedlings and they have eight seed banks which include staple agroforestry species: Calliandra calothyrsus, Acacia spp and Leucaena spp. The center also runs a piggery and a beekeeping operation. Riba is a 12-year-old agroforestry training center that attempts to improve food security and decrease poverty through environmental education and other income-generating activities. Trainings are also offered in bee keeping and commercial gardening to support rural livelihoods. The center trains about 300 farmers each year. The success of this year’s Cameroon Program tree planting has been in large part due to TFTF’s Cameroon Field Representative, Louis Nkembi. Aside from creating the TFTF trip itinerary and organizing all workshops, Nkembi initiated the seed distribution that allowed the Southwest trees to get planted this year,
MIFACIG Director Kuh Emmanuel Lo-ah, showing their nursery of Grevillea robusta.
before TFTF offered technical support. He is also an excellent speaker and writer (in French and English), and is able to communicate well with professionals and farmers alike. He is well-versed in fundraising and has brought in extensive funding from many international foundations to support his environmental work that includes conservation, tree-planting and rural livelihoods. He is one of TFTF’s most valuable field representatives, determined to work toward low-cost initiatives on the ground. TFTF is now working on an aggressive fundraising campaign for the Cameroon Program for the 2008 planting season so that the exceptional work that has been started in collaboration with Nkembi and all of the local environmental NGOs in western Cameroon may continue. For more information, please contact Cameroon Program Coordinator Corrie Mauldin at corrie@treesftf.org
Louis Nkembi teaching women’s groups in Kumba.
Page 10 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
Borneo : From Gold Mining to Reforestation
Forward: In 1981, the first major project of a program that eventually became TREES FOR THE FUTURE took place on the 60 islands of Madura. It showed that the people there, understanding the environmental devastation that threatens their future, are capable of great achievements. Kay Howe’s experience, as she describes here, shows the devastation that indifferent government policy can bring down on the people of an area. Kay wants to go back to Kalimantan, to help the people of these communities save their forest homes. We believe the Dayak and Melayu people, like the people of Madura, can accomplish great things – with our help. My name is Kay Howe and I have worked extensively This team has produced awesome results under some on the island of Borneo, the third largest island in the of the most challenging circumstances. Lack of fundworld which is located in Southeast Asia. Most recent- ing, working with primitive tools, difficult accessibilily, I have worked with a small Indonesian non-profit ty, drought, fires, and malaria are a few of the chalcalled Friend of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF) lenges I have seen them confronted with, yet everyday in Tanjung Puting National Park, on the southern tip of their work continues with one focus: to plant trees, Boreno. restore the forest, and creIn 2006, large forest fires ate a better livelihood for burned the forests of their families. Tanjung Puting Park, a I had the great fortune to Man and Biosphere be a volunteer with this Preserve and a World non-profit organization for Mega-Diversity Hotspot, a year. During this time, I and an area already threatbecame familiar with some ened by logging and minof the issues contributing to ing. To date 65% of forest and habitat loss in Tanjung Putting National Kalimantan. One major Park has been damaged challenge is illegal gold from fires and illegal logmining. Kalimantan is full ging. of artesianal mining operaThe park is home to a tions which use mercury to large population of the collect the small sized gold highly endangered orangparticles in a process called utans as well as gibbon amalgamation. It plays a apes, sun bears, cloud leoplarge role in the destruction ards, and many other of the forests, creates a species so diverse that they public health threat, and is have not all been identified. poisoning people, rivers For the past three years and aquatic species with A FNPF head forester teaching his community FNPF has been training the mercury and methyl mercuDayak and Melayu people to become foresters. These ry. Illegal gold and zircon mining operations are locatpeople come from the small village of Desa Sungai ed upstream of the village, across the river from the Sekonyer, located across the river from the national park. park. The reforestation team, completely comprised of As a volunteer I connected FNPF with the Global people from this village, work to restore habitat in the Mercury Project (GMP) to begin to address an issue park and they have cultivated and planted close to having seriously adverse environmental impacts on the 100,000 native and endemic trees. In addition to the park. At a Training of Trainers Workshop, veterinarians reforestation program, the head forester has developed and I received an education on the health effects of an agroforestry program and an organic farming model mercury and its by-product, methyl mercury. We were in the village to teach sustainable agricultural methods introduced to cleaner technology and taught methods that provide simple and inexpensive ways for miners and improve community welfare. Page 11 continued on page 15 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No.4
Our Trees Growing Around the Globe in 2007
Africa
Middle East
Year-old Leucaena leucocephala growing in the highlands of Kurdistan, Iraq and a Grevillea robusta nursery in Ethiopia
Asia
Caribbean
Cassia siamea growing in the Philippines, and a Leucaena leucocephala nursery in Haiti
Page 12 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
Introducing Josh Bogart
Josh Bogart will be coordinating our work in Honduras in the coming year, and will be a great addition to TREES. With his help, we will plant over one million trees in Honduras in the coming year. On Dec 31st, he will complete his 3rd year as a volunteer with the Peace Corps Honduras. He has been working on protected areas management, and has started reforestation, diversification of production, and biogas projects. He is completing his masters in Forest Entomology from the State University of New York, and he has a bachelors in Biology (honors) with a minor in Environmental Studies. As our progarm coordinator, he will be based in Siguatepeque, where he will help coordinate a major local tree planting initiative. He will be working closely with our partner Guillermo Valle of FundArbol, and his contacts with the Peace Corps will help us start even more projects. His local knowledge will be tremendously valuable, and we are very lucky to have him on our staff..
Honduras: The Mayor of Texiguat
Honduras is confronted by serious problems with helping to extend these strategies to those who need deforestation and soil erosion as a rapidly growing them. population takes unsustainable agricultural practices One example is Texiguat, a small town in southwestfurther into the steep mountains and timber barons con- ern Honduras about three hours (but only 90 kilometinue the wholesale pillage of the country’s natural ters) from the capital Tegucigalpa. They are fortunate resources. to have elected Lorenso Over half of the populaArturo Sierra Isaguire, a tion is under 15 years dynamic and motivated old, and they are spread mayor, who forged a out in small villages partnership with TREES across an extremely and SERNA (the mountainous country. Deparment of the Subsistence agriculture Environment and Natural as currently practiced is Resources) to develop a poorly adapted to the plot of abandoned land steep terrain that farmers that the city had recently must now exploit as they purchased from a NGO search for new places to that was no longer operating in the area. grow their crops. However, simple agroThe mayor entered office in January of forestry technologies such as contour planting, Jorge Betancourt providing advice and planning assitance to 2007, and by March he terracing, and forest gar- Mayor Lorenzo Arturo Sierra Isaguire and the local forestry had, with our help, starttechinician. ed a nursery of over dens are well suited to 5,000 cashew, mahogany these areas, and we are Page 13 continued on page 14 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
Honduras : The Mayor of Texiguat (cont’d)
and moringa trees. These trees are being used to reforest the abandoned land, and they are also being distributed to people who come into town from more remote areas. Over time we will work to incorporate more species into this project. Future plans include developing a functioning woodlot, which will be used to provide sustainable fuel for a community bakery that is currently being built on the outskirts of the town. Fast-growing leguminous trees that can be repeatedly and sustainably harvested will be planted, showing the community some ways to help conserve and protect their resources. Honduras has always been a strong component of our program, and we have developed strong connections over the years, in all levels and sectors of society. Texiguat is one of several municipal projects. In mid october, TREES technician Gorav Seth traveled to Honduras to attend the annual Project Honduras Conference in Copan Ruinas, and to meet with our partners in the area to plan the coming year’s work.
We aim to plant over 2 million trees in Honduras in 2008 with our key partners - FUNDARBOL, Peace Corps, Semillas Tropicales, the Episcopal Diocese of Santa Barbara, and the Healthy Schools Program of the First Lady’s Office. We are very lucky to have Joshua Bogart joining TREES as our local representative for 2008. During the coming year, we plan to strengthen our seed distribution and training partnership with FUNDARBOL, a local NGO run by Guillermo Valle, who is a great friend of the environment. We will be working more intensively than ever with Peace Corps Honduras to train and equip their volunteers with the seeds and skills to implement tree-planting projects. The city of Siguatepeque, where Josh will be based, is embarking on a program to plant one million trees, and the Healthy Schools Program is working on expanding their school garden programs to include fruit trees, woodlots, and forest gardens.
Municipal nursery with moringa, mahogany, and cashew trees, started with support from TREES
“Cedar” (Cedrello odorata) trees are starting the process of reforesting these lands
Page 14 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No. 4
Borneo : From Gold Mining to Reforestation (cont’d)
and their families to reduce their exposure to mercury and the amount of mercury being released into the environment. I helped secure grant funding and worked with the staff to design and implement a campaign, based on information learned, for the mining communities on the Sekonyer River and downriver populaces. Only a few individuals benefit from these illegal mining operations, but the community bears huge costs. Hair samples taken and analyzed show women of child bearing age and young girls to have the highest levels of mercury present in their bodies. A fourteen year old girl showed levels so high she was advised to immediately leave the environment. This, of course, was probably impossible. Poverty is rampant: schools and health care are non-existent. While our campaign was successful it only touched the tip of this iceberg-sized problem which will plague Kalimantan for years to come. In early October of this year, I received a text message on my cell phone alerting me of a recent decision allowing the park’s borders to be altered, accommodating logging and mining for gold and zircon. This past week FNPF staff has been trying to collect information as to who is responsible for this decision and to determine the location of new park boundaries and park
Forester working on propagation at at Beguruh nursery
areas that will be affected. Valuable timber is removed when forests are cleared for mining operations to begin, further increasing the profitability of this illegal industry that has no government oversight or regulation. Additionally, habitat is lost, as is the transpiration of water and absorption of carbon dioxide that old growth forests provide. Mining activities adjacent to the park have not just poisoned the land but have destroyed the forest so completely that to walk through these vast mining sites is like walking on an enormous beach. Borneo’s forests were once one of the world’s largest and are equated to being one of the world’s lungs. Blatant resource extraction is exploiting these exquisite, fragile, and pricelessly rare rainforests. The logging of areas losing protection in Tanjung Puting could begin any time. If the government is resolute in its decision to change the border and offer the land for sale, then the next best thing would be to acquire this land, develop a social forestry model and return the land to indigenous peoples for management. Models that integrate the needs of people and forest animals are desperately needed in Borneo. Through international support and solidarity we can hopefully stop the selfish and short-sighted destruction of this treasure.
Community foresters transporting plants to outplanting sites
Page 15 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XV, No.4
Inside
Seasons Greetings
We dedicate this issue to the more Please help! We need digital cameras than 40,000 families around the world and computers for our field technicians who joined with us in 2007 to save so that we can better document the their homes and their way of life. program you make possible. In-kind donations are also tax deductible. p. 1 Senegal p. 2 Opinion p. 5 Haiti p. 8 Training Program p. 8 Holiday Giving p. 9 Cameroon p.11 Borneo p.12 Trees around the Globe p.13 Introducing Josh Bogart p.13 Honduras
E-Newsletter
Every month, Trees for the Future sends out an e-newsletter. Sign-up by going under “Join the Mailing List� on www.plant-trees.org and entering your email address.
Combined Federal Campaign Trees for the Future is part of the Aid to Africa Federation CFC# 10715
www.plant-trees.org
Loret Miller Ruppe Center P.O. Box 7027 Silver Spring, Maryland 20907
Address change ? Duplicate Mailing? Change as shown Remove from List Mail Changes or Call 800-643-0001
Printed by wind energy on recycled paper with soy ink