TreeGivers and Sustainable Harvest International
Join Forces in Helping Central American Farmers
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TreeGivers is helping the people of Central American countries by teaming up with Sustainable Harvest International to plant trees in Central America.
Through these efforts, we are promoting sustainable forestry practices to people and communities who are eager to find better ways of protecting their economies and environment. For every special TreeGivers Tree Planting designated by you, TreeGivers will donate $2.00 to Sustainable Harvest International, who will be able to plant 10 trees from your donation! You will be able to choose 1 of 4 Central American countries (Honduras, Belize, Panama, or Nicaragua) in which to plant the 10 trees, as well as the U.S. State that you would like your gift tree planted.
Because of your purchase of 1 TreeGivers Tree,
11 trees will be planted!
Mission and History of Sustainable Harvest International
Mission: Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) provides farmers and communities in the tropics with long-term assistance implementing environmentally and economically sustainable technologies. Our mission is to reverse environmental degradation by helping rural inhabitants restore ecological stability and sustainable economic productivity to overexploited lands.
History:For centuries, farmers in the tropics have used slash-and-burn techniques to clear their land at the start of each growing season. Many centuries ago when the population was much smaller than today, this system worked well. Farmers would cut down and burn the vegetation on a small plot in the middle of the forest, leaving it surrounded by virgin forest. The forest protected local water sources and provided people with many things, such as firewood, fruits, wood for construction and medicines. The cleared land would be farmed for a few years and then the people would move on to a new area, not returning to the first plot for many decades. Once abandoned, the cleared plot would quickly be recuperated by the surrounding forest, which also offered protection from sun, wind and erosion. Today with the dramatic increases in population, farmers return to the same plots (no longer protected by surrounding forest) after only a few years, never allowing the land to recuperate fully. Each time this cycle is repeated the land becomes more and more degraded until it loses all productivity. Wood used for cooking and home construction is also becoming ever more scarce.
With lands degrading, harvests decreasing and standards of living going down, farmers in the tropics are looking for better ways to grow their crops. Sustainable Harvest International was founded to offer them those alternatives.
Each TreeGivers Tree Planting Includes:
Framed Option
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OR for an Unframed Certificate Option:
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Your special gift tree will be planted on public lands as an important part of it's natural surroundings without personal inscription, making its contribution to the beauty of the countryside, shelter for the wildlife, and the purity of the air we breathe. |
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Vision Statement
The world's tropical forests are being lost at an alarming rate, largely due to agricultural expansion. Destructive timber harvesting practices, short-rotation slash-and-burn agriculture and inadequate management of cattle pastures have depleted arable land in the tropics, causing great hardship to people who depend on trees and agriculture for their survival. Tropical forest loss also results in the extinction of native plant and animal species, increased soil erosion, drought, flooding and a net increase in greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. This environmental degradation leads to both increased forest clearing and urban migration, as many rural inhabitants strive to maintain and improve their lives while others abandon their traditional way of life in search of scant opportunities in already overpopulated cities.
The environmental situation in the tropics is getting more critical every day, but the farmers who suffer the most direct consequences are ready and willing to reverse this trend. When people in rural communities in the tropics ask for SHI's help, and when they begin to adopt and adapt the agroforestry and sustainable farming practices, they are engaging in a remarkable choice which runs counter to decades of forest destruction: by restoring ecological stability and economic productivity to previously degraded lands, those farmers become part of the solution to environmental degradation in the tropics, rather than part of the problem.
Hurricane Disaster Relief
On October 11th, Hurricane Iris, a category 4 hurricane, ravaged the southern coast and inland areas of Belize. In the Toledo District, which is home to all of SHI's Belizean programs, 8,000 people were left homeless, and widespread crop damage greatly threatens economic and food security. Presently, victims are in dire need of clothing, food, water and building materials. Also, SHI's farmers desperately need our help to rebuild their sustainable agriculture plots so that they do not have to revert to environmentally devastating slash-and-burn techniques in order to survive.
Honduras
In 2001, Country coordinator Yovany Munguia hired the program's 5th extensionist in order to expand our reach to more than 263 participants in 29 communities. As reported in the Cosecha Quarterly, some of these families have improved their income by as much as 450% through the sale of sustainably grown crops, like onions. To date, participants have planted more than 490,000 trees and converted more than 1400 acres to sustainable uses.
In March 2001, SHI signed papers to begin the process of transforming the Honduras program into an independent affiliate of Sustainable Harvest International. SHI will continue its partnership with the Fundación Ecologista Hector Rodrigo Pastor Fasquelle until the transition is complete, after which we expect to continue collaborating on many levels.
Belize
In 2001, SHI's two Belizean xtensionists worked with 60 families in 11 villages. Highlights included the establishment and success of the organic gardening program at the Julian Cho high school, where students earned about $10,000 US from the sale of their organic vegetables.
SHI's Belize program also worked with the Toledo Cacao Growers? Association (TCGA) to cultivate organic cacao for sale to Green & Black?s, a British chocolate company specializing in fairly traded products. Working with the TCGA has allowed SHI participants to increase their incomes by growing organic cacao, a valuable crop that thrives in a forest environment. Such a sweet deal!
Panama
SHI's three Panamanian extensionists work with 80 families in two regions of Panamá. By mid-2001, participants have planted more than 150, 000 trees and converted more than 400 acres to sustainable uses. Extensionists have taught a sustainable, organic paddy system for growing rice that has resulted in yield increases of as much as 800% over slash-and-burn methods. Participants have also used mini-irrigation systems that have helped them survive a severe drought at the end of the dry season.
Nicaragua
SHI's newest program in Nicaragua is off to a great start! SHI-Nicaragua met with much success in its first year and a half. With the Fundación de Desarollo de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua as our partner organization, extensionist Leonel Luna worked with 25 families in six communities on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Thus far SHI's Nicaragua participants have planted more than 20,000 trees.
Instead of heading to the city, participants in one cooperative are looking to SHI for help in planning the establishment of their own fruit juice production facility to earn additional income from the fruit trees they are planting with Luna?s help. SHI's Nicaragua program is being funded by New England Biolabs Foundation.