Trees for the Future
Encyclopedia
Trees for the Future is a Maryland-based nonprofit organization founded in 1989 that helps communities around the world plant trees. Through seed distribution, agroforestry training, and in-country technical assistance, it has empowered rural groups to restore tree cover to their lands, protect the environment and help to preserve traditional livelihoods and cultures for generations.

Overview

Started in 1989 by Grace and Dave Deppner, Trees for the Future works with communities in Central America, South America, Africa and Asia to incorporate tree planting into their agricultural activities.

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

, Trees for the Future also offers individuals and businesses a form of carbon offset
Carbon offset
A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....

 through planting trees.

Its programs help communities replenish their natural resources by providing materials and training to allow farmers to sustainably grow crops for food, fodder, and fuelwood.

Trees for the Future has worked on reforestation efforts in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

 since 2002. It is currently planting fast-growing Moringa
Moringa
Moringa is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Moringaceae. The name is derived from the Tamil word murunggai or the Malayalam word muringa, both of which refer to M. oleifera...

 trees which can help restore degraded farmlands. Trees for the Future's Haiti Coordinator, Timote Georges, was featured on Discovery Channel about the organization's work in Haiti working on agroforestry projects to restore degraded land throughout the country.

In 2008, Trees for the Future helped over 200 farmers plant approximately 250,000 forest and fruit trees in Léogâne
Léogane
Léogâne is a seaside town in Ouest Department, Haïti. It is located in the eponymous arrondissement, the Léogâne Arrondissement. The port town is located about West of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The town was at the epicenter of the 12 January 2010 earthquake, and was catastrophically...

, the epicenter of the earthquake, and worked with other rural communities. In 2009, due to the organization's increasing network of people on the ground and organizations supporting its work, the Trees for the Future's program had even more success. The organization's Haiti Coordinator, Timote Georges, continues to work with communities along the Arcadine coast to plant trees.

The organization to date has planted over 65 million trees worldwide in 30 countries and has served over 11,000 villages around the world. Trees for the Future provides free distance and agroforestry training and education; works in conjunction with over 53 specialists who are experts in agroforestry, community development
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....

, sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...

, land use, livestock management, women in development
Women in Development
Women in Development is an approach to development projects that emerged in the 1970s, calling for treatment of women's issues in development projects...

 and youth education; provides in-country seed distribution, and; works on natural resource management
Natural resource management
Natural resource management refers to the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations ....

.

Trees for the Future created a documentary about its work planting trees called "50 Million Trees and Counting: Trees for the Future".

In February 2010, Maryland Senators Richard Madaleno and Brian Frosh, and Maryland Delegate Al Carr announced Senate resolutions recognizing the 20th anniversary of Trees for the Future and the organization's two decades of global activity restoring degraded lands and cutting carbon emissions through the planting of more than 65 million trees.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK