The quarterly newsletter of Trees for the Future
Winter 2009
Vol. XVII, No. 4
Unintended Benefits in Brazil Many people start their day by picking up the paper were coming out of one of the wettest dry seasons in or turning on the television. These acts have a different quite some time. They would have looked worse had purpose for each of us – a way to fight the urge to go the dry season been more severe. Hundreds of thouback to bed, a way to discover conversation starters, a sands of these skinny cows wander through the World way to ignore the person on his cell phone on the sub- Heritage recognized wetlands in western Brazil. Conway, or a way to see what decisions are being made in trary to many of our project sites, these cows are not the world and learn about their consequences. the greatest threat facing the Pantanal. Instead it is the It seems that every day there are decisions that can forests to the north that are being cut down to create change the direction of so many people’s lives. One soybean fields. All of the runoff, with its sediment and person chooses to bring a gun to work and individuals pollution included, travels to the Pantanal and wreaks and families are suddenly changed forever. Govern- havoc. The people north of the Pantanal never intended ments’ decisions on whether or not to address global to damage the wetland, but deforestation in one area climate change can affect us all. Climate change is es- can severely affect another region. pecially pertinent when Brazil recently suffered from In early October Jeff and Brazil Field Representative, severe flooding during its dry season and experienced only its third tornado in recorded history. Even something as simple as consciously smiling at someone when you get your coffee in the morning has an effect on those around you. In a recent trip to Brazil, South America Program Officer Jeff Follett realized how true this is in the work we do at Trees for the Future. As Jeff stood in the Pantanal in late September he discussed the environmental and social issues that face people living in the area. The dry season was light this past year, so the cows looked better than they usually do at the beginning of the Members of the Marília Bee Association display their agroforestry trainrainy season. The most startling as- ing certificates. We distributed 80,000 seeds in one day to these graduates. Fernanda Peixoto is the woman in front in white. pect of their condition is that they Page 1 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XVII, No. 4
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The Johnny Ipil-Seed News is a 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 using 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. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dr. John R. Moore - Chairman, Dr. Peter Falk - Vice Chairman, Mr. Oscar V. Gruspe - Finance Officer, Dave Deppner President, Mr. Bedru Sultan, Ms. Marilou Herman, Mr. Franz Stuppard, Mr. John Leary - Members, R. Grace Deppner - Recording Secretary (non-voting) ADVISORY COUNCIL Dr. Mizani Kristos - West African Development, Dr. James Brewbaker - University of Hawaii, Mr. William Campbell - Seasoned Energy, Mr. Steve McCrea - Global Climate Change, FL, Dr. Malcolm Novins - George Mason University, Dr. Noel Vietmeyer - The Vetiver Institute, Mr. Sean Griffin - Forestry & GIS Specialist STAFF Dave Deppner - Founder, Executive Director R. Grace Deppner - Founder, Associate Director Jeffrey Manuel - Membership Services Gorav Seth - International Programs Coordinator Josh Bogart - Central America Coordinator Ethan Budiansky - Africa and Caribbean Program Officer Jeff Follett - South America Program Officer Francis Deppner - Southeast Asia Coordinator David Tye - East Africa Coordinator Heather Muszyinski - Grants Coordinator Gabe Buttram - Ethiopia Program Coordinator Ryan Murphy - Tree Pals Coordinator Leandro Monteiro - Business Partnerships Coordinator FIELD STAFF Louis Nkembi - Cameroon, Guillermo Valle - Honduras, Subramanian Periyasamy - India, Sagapala Gangisetty - India, Manoj Bhatt - India, Donal Perez - Nicaragua, Danny Zabala - Philippines, Omar Ndao - Senegal, Kay Howe - Indonesia, Fernanda Peixoto - Brazil, Paulino Damiano Mugendi - Kenya, Mathius Lukwago - Uganda, Karamba Diakhaby - Senegal, Lovans Owusu-Takyi -Ghana, Robin Achah- Cameroon, Timote Georges - Haiti, Mohamed Traore - Mali, Merkebu Garedew - Ethiopia
To receive this newsletter or for more information, contact: TREES FOR THE FUTURE The Loret Miller Ruppe Center for Sustainable Development P.O. Box 7027, Silver Spring, MD 20907 Toll Free: 1-800-643-0001: Ph: 301-565-0630 info@treesftf.org WWW.PLANT-TREES.ORG
Opinion: Once Again - Déjà vu The Miami Valley of southwestern Ohio doesn’t usually get much snow. The winter of 1913 was different and by the end of February the snow pack was deep. By then the temperature was up and the snow was melting under heavy rains, which continued over the following weeks. The Great Miami River runs through the City of Dayton. On the north side it is joined by the Stillwater River, Mad River, and Wolf Creek along with smaller streams. With considerable forethought, the city fathers had constructed high levees to avoid flooding. Over the years the levees had always proven ample. But not in that March of 1913 when the surge quickly poured over the top of the levees; bringing deep water to the downtown and low-lying residential areas. Gas lines in office buildings broke. One by one, tall buildings in the center of town exploded as the fires spread. Across the Main Street Bridge from downtown is a low-lying residential area called Riverdale. Not the most affluent part of town. The river quickly found Riverdale and the water rose faster than most people could imagine. That was true in the household of Charley and Helen Deppner and their sons Joe (my Dad) and Robert. Grabbing what they could, they scrambled up on the roof of the front porch, pulled out the attic ventilator and squeezed in to get dry. Only then did they realize they had crawled into a deadly trap with the water still quickly rising. They couldn’t get out. In vain they struggled to break through the roof. Across the Main Street Bridge was Fire Station No. 4 where my Great Uncle Charley Wagner and his team were launching some wooden boats which they sent out to check the neighborhoods including that little house on Babbitt Street. They heard the noises inside the attic, quickly figured out what was happening, guided their boat up on the roof, started chopping with their axes, and pulled everybody out just in time. Had it not been for the brave men in that boat that would have been the end of the Deppner Family. There would never have
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Opinion (continued from page 2) been a Dave Deppner. was almost dark now. What got me thinking about something that happened But then we could see small dark shapes moving to96 years ago – a story that has been passed down (and ward that trapped family – young men, jumping from possibly overstated) over four generations? Late on a one rooftop to the next, sometimes swinging by tree dreary Saturday last September, with a typhoon (“Pep- branches to get to the next house. From two directions eng”) approaching Manila, we were on a bus coming they crawled and jumped to the roof of that house. With back from our typhoon-stricken project area in the their bare fingers, they pulled and twisted the corrugatNorth. The North Diversion Highway is high – higher ed iron until they got a couple of sheets loose. than the already flooded rice Then, working closely lands on either side of the together, they formed a huroad. man chain and got that famSuddenly we found ourily safely to higher ground. selves in a flash flood. Before my eyes I had seen The driver alertly stopped, a virtual replay of that day backed up onto a higher place long ago, half a world away close to a toll booth, but the in Dayton, Ohio. Now this waters kept rising, swirling family, too, was safe from the about two feet deep around flood waters. Sometime later, the bus. The questions on the waters started receding everybody’s minds were, and our bus moved on to Ma“How much deeper could nila. In 14 hours we had made the flood waters become and a trip that normally takes four. would they float the bus off But as the chain of typhoons the road, capsizing it down continued, nobody in Central into the rice fields?” We sat Luzon was going anywhere. there for the next six hours, The “Hundred Year Flood” hoping and praying – and was back for the 8th time in Flooding in the town of Iba, Zambales, the watching a continuing pa- Philippines due to multiple tropical storms and a the last 37 years. Four tybreak in the dike along the Bucao river. rade of wretched humanity phoons landed in a period of – as people living in houses only five weeks, with another along the rice fields waded through the water, strug- waiting off to the southeast. gling against its force. Our project area was especially hit hard. Seven of the The nearby toll gates offered a long steel bridge, 35 barangays (communities) of Botolan (our major projsheltered by a steel roof, cold and windy, but at least ect area in the north) were completely wiped out. Some high and dry. Families struggled through the flood wa- 2,200 houses were destroyed. The South China Sea just ters, carrying their young children, and spent the night came in and took people, houses, and more than a mile squeezed together on that bridge. We also saw a parade of the coastal road when it left. Hundreds of families of water buffalo, cattle, goats and pigs that had broken walked miles along the roads until they reached land out of their pens and found high ground. Later we saw above the flood waters. There were few places where the carcasses of those that hadn’t found a high place. they could stay but the people of the upland communiThere were a few small houses down below my win- ties did all they could; including making thousands of dow, most of them now in water up to the roof line. One “bayanihan” (do it yourself) houses from grasses and house had a second floor and the family there, like my bamboo. Thanks to communities working together, vicown family a century before, had moved up there. Now tims were at least dry. Food was on the way. But what they were trapped. Nothing we could do but sit there on about water? Clean water was definitely a problem. Unthe bus helplessly and watch what was sure to follow. It fortunately, there was plenty of the other kind. Page 3 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XVII, No. 4
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Philippine Update This rainy season was a brutal one in the Philippines, with tropical storms and typhoons hitting most of the Philippines with increased strength and frequency. We attended many meetings with groups interested in starting projects in their communities and with businesses interested in supporting our work there. We visited the Philippines in September and in the four weeks we were there five tropical storms ripped through the country. Each storm brought lots of rain, in addition to winds that took out power and telephone lines which made the relief efforts much more difficult. Our project in Zambales is growing due to landowners’ agreements with the Department of Natural Resources (DENR) which requires them to reforest their land in exchange for land grants. Our partner, TREES/Philippines, has reached many more people
with the digital projector and laptop that we provided to assist them in giving presentations to different organizations and schools. We have also developed a partnership with the Ramon Magsaysay Technical University who will assist us in conducting germination tests and also will help us during the planting season. In response to recent challenges faced by people in Zambales due to Typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng we delivered food and basic necessities to some of the 1,500 displaced families. In Cebu we are working with Cebu Permaculture Initiative, a new partner who has offered us a place to setup an office as we plan on expanding our projects to various islands in the Philippines this year. We met with several organizations in Cebu that understand the importance of tree planting and sustainable land management in the prevention of the severe floods we wit-
Due to all of the storms, the river in Zambales swelled and destroyed roads, houses, and crops
Ipil-Ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) planted amongst various fruit and vegetable species
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Haiti Update Ethan Budiansky, Africa and Haiti Program Officer This past September I made my third trip to Haiti in to surpass those numbers. the past two years. TREES’ Haiti Representative, TimWhile I was there we visited numerous tree nurserote Georges had been providing me with very encour- ies and planting sites. Many of the seedlings from the aging reports and excellent pictures from the field for nurseries had already been planted in the fields and the past year. It was time to see these accomplishments community members were busy filling tree sacks for for myself, and to work with Timote to see how we can the second rainy season. For labor intensive activities, improve and expand the program moving into 2010. members of surrounding communities come together to If you were to fly over Hispanola or look at satellite form a ‘kombit,’ or work party, in order help one anothview on Google Maps, er out in the field. This you would see a signifisame practice is being cant difference between adopted for tree plantthe Dominican Repubing as well. At the tree lic (DR) and Haiti. The nursery in Desvase, DR is lush and green over 20 people from while Haiti is brown. different communities Not long ago, the two were helping fill tree countries were very sacks for the nursery. similar in environment. In Bercy, people from Today, however, while numerous communiabout 30% of the DR is ties were helping out forested, less than 5% to plant trees in one of Haiti has any intact farmer’s field. forests and the majority Many people also of the land is completechose to plant trees dily degraded. There are rectly in their family numerous reasons to compounds. I had a explain this difference great conversation with between the two counJoseph and Mercise tries, but one thing is Jones about the Morcertain, the people of inga live fence they Haiti suffer significantplanted around their ly due to a long history home. They explained of poor land use practo me that they planted tices. the trees because of the As a result, our efforts health and nutritional A student transplanting a Swietenia macrophylla seedling in Haiti have focused benefits from eating in Cariyes primarily on working Moringa, especially with farmers to plant for pregnant and lactattrees along the degraded hillsides and within their ing women (Mercise was 8 months pregnant). I was fields to bring life back to the impoverished soils and impressed by their knowledge. We also exchanged our decrease further soil erosion. The trees also provide favorite recipes for cooking the leaves. numerous other important benefits such as firewood, Trees for the Future’s training and resource center in food, and biodiesel. This year, we projected planting Leveque, along the major Route 1, is also developing 1 million trees with communities along the Arcadine well. Timote is in the process of clearing the yard to Coast. After my recent visit, I discovered we are likely put in a demonstration tree nursery. While I was there, Page 5 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XVII, No. 4
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New Developments in Zambia David Tye, the East Africa Regional Program Coordinator recently visited Zambia to meet with local non-governmental organizations to discuss tree planting projects. David met with local organizations and visited projects sites in Kabwe, Lusaka, Chikuni, and Livingstone. These four cities are located throughout Central and Southern Zambia. The Savannah Project works with the Seventh Day Adventist Churches throughout Zambia on health issues and has recently started an environmental and tree planting program to address problems with soil degradation and the cutting of trees for fuelwood needs. The Savannah Project has a bold initiative to plant one million trees in 1,000 Seventh Day Adventist Churches throughout Zambia next year. Trees for the Future will provide the tree seeds and will conduct four workshops in different regions of the country to help facilitate this tree planting project.
Faidherbia albida has received a lot of press since the World Agroforestry Congress
Chikuni Mission Tree Nursery
The Kasisi Agriculture Training Center outside of Lusaka works on training rural farmers in week long courses that cover the benefits and techniques of improved agricultural practices and agroforestry. This year Kasisi has educated 1,000 farmers on these techniques as well as tree nursery management and fuel efficient stoves. Trees for the Future will provide seeds and training material to Kasisi Agricultural Training Center to help facilitate their training program. The SAM (Sustainability through Agriculture and Micro-Enterprise) Project is based outside of Livingstone, Zambia and is part of the Overland Mission organization. The SAM Project works on sustainable agriculture and small enterprise development projects to improve the lives of rural Zambians farmers. Trees for the Future has already provided thousands of seeds to the SAM Project and they are interested in greatly expanding the project next year to plant even more trees in the surrounding communities. The Zambia Program is having a great start and 2010 should be a very successful year. Page 6 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XVII, No. 4
Introducing Ryan Murphy Ryan came to Trees for the Future in January 2009 after returning from his Peace Corps service high in the Peruvian Andes. There he worked with an indigenous environmental group to promote sustainable ecotourism, built improved stoves, taught resource awareness and English at the local school, hosted a radio show, harvested potatoes and herded sheep. He came back from Peru ready to find a career in development and small scale sustainable agriculture and landed at the door of Trees for the Future. Ryan is now developing the Tree Pals program and will be helping the fundraising team at the office.
Tree Pals Winter Update Tree Pals got off to a great start this fall. Ryan Murphy, the Tree Pals Coordinator, has already linked four classes planting trees in Nicaragua with partner classes in the U.S. Participants exchanged letters, photos and drawings and learned about the different culture and environment of their partner classes. In Nicaragua, TREES was able to provide materials in Spanish geared towards sustainable land management and tree planting in rural communities. Donal Gutierrez, TREES field technician, has led workshops for students in tree planting, natural resource management and composting. To celebrate the school tree planting projects, he organized an event in his community to distribute tree seedlings and raise awareness of the work that students are doing with Trees for the Future. Tree Pals is also working with a Peace Corps Volunteer outside of Leon, Nicaragua who is planting trees and facilitating a letter exchange at schools in his rural village. Starting in January 2010, Tree Pals will work to link 20 classes in TREES program countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana, India and the Philippines, to partner classes throughout the United States. Teachers and youth group leaders are already expressing interest, but Tree Pals still has room for more and is currently accepting applications. If you teach or know of a class or youth group that might like to participate, contact Ryan at ryan@treesftf.org Tree Pals would also like to thank the many busiStudents working with Peace Corps Volunteer Tyler Sinclair to trans- nesses that have chosen to support the port tree seedlings in a small town outside of Leon, Nicaragua. program. Page 7 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XVII, No. 4
Best Pictures of 2009 At the end of the year we like to put in a few of our favorite photographs. We hope they help to show you some of the great work that your program is accomplishing. Thank you for your support!
Cameroon - Trees for the Future reforestation project in Lebialem with the Njenbin Young Farmers Group
Kenya - Carrying seedlings up a steep hill in Kiangondu
Honduras - Don Julio with year and a half old Acrocarpus tree
Ethiopia - Gabe Buttram at a hillside reforestation site
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Unintended Benefits in Brazil (continued from page 1) Fernanda Peixoto, visited project sites and distributed seeds in São Paulo state. The people they spoke with decided to start planting trees for many reasons. In one case, a neighbor had lost three crops of cassava due to erosion. In another case, a farmer could not maintain soil humidity and was continually having to water her crops. In yet another case, a farmer had a nursery destroyed by high winds and lost all of the flowers on her coffee bushes before they could produce fruit. We continue to address issues such as these in São Paulo state. By working with five groups – Marília Small Farmers Association, Cooperativa Sul, Oriente Bee Association, Marília Bee Association, and the Guaranta Settlement – we hope to reach hundreds of farmers. We have already distributed over 230,000 seeds to these five groups. After months of training and preparing nurseries, the farmers are prepared to plant their seeds. The seeds will grow Fernanda Peixoto explains the layout of a windbreak to resifor approximately 2 ½ months in the nurseries dents of the Guaranta settlement before being transplanted in January. In each case, the farmer who plants the trees will benefit This is great news, but it gets better. The unintended from reduced wind speeds, reduced erosion, and better consequences of their decision to plant trees include production. motivation of their neighbors, habitat creation for animals, including bees, and improved water quality and flow in areas that could be far from their property. One of the advantages of working at Trees for the Future is that as a staff member we get to meet the people you help. Since you cannot meet these people directly, it is helpful if we tell you their stories. Elsa lives in a settlement near Guaranta, São Paulo, Brazil. The morning we visited Elsa, we found her working in her nursery. Only after talking for a while did we find out that her father passed away the day before. She decided to stick around because she knew that we planned to stop by to talk about the project. The sheer dedication of the people in Guaranta is amazing. Elsa went to Guaranta 11 years ago and squatted on the land for 6 months before the land was designated as a settlement. In that time she had to continually move. The police would arrive to get the squatters off the land and the settlers would have to grab what they could and run through the night. Somehow this was better than the Elsa tells about the early years of living in the Guaranta low paying farmhand job she had before moving to the settlement area. For 6 years she lived in a plastic tent waiting for Page 9 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XVII, No. 4
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Unintended Benefits in Brazil (continued from page 9) the government to act. She and other residents had to buy rope to divide up the land (their way of measuring distances) and the group had to collect money to build their own dirt roads. She and the others did not start producing on the land until they had their titles in hand. This shows the importance of land tenure. They did not want to invest in the area until it was theirs. Elsa is now planting nearly 3,000 trees on her land as a windbreak to protect her crops and her home. If you are familiar with Trees for the Future you probably are aware of the many benefits from planting trees which is why you support us year after year. Perhaps you are attracted to the environmental benefits, perhaps you have traveled to rural communities in other parts of the world and have seen the benefit that trees can provide, or perhaps you have an attachment to a particular location where we work. In any of these cases there are definitely unintended benefits for thousands of people worldwide, such as Elsa, to your donating to a non-profit organization here in the United States. Vitoria is one of the producers in Guaranta who will benefit from a windbreak. The flowers on her coffee bushes are blown off before they can produce fruit.
Haiti Update (continued from page 5) we held a meeting with numerous community leaders interested in working with Trees for the Future in 2010. They had heard about our work by word of mouth and by participating in tree planting kombits. In addition to other functions, the training center serves as a primary location for interested people to seek out the assistance of Trees for the Future. Our program in Haiti has developed slowly over the past 6 years, with natural disasters and difficult political and social environments slowing the process down. However, since early 2008, the program has improved significantly and has become a flagship program at TREES. Looking ahead towards 2010, the program will continue to grow. We will expand to work with new and motivated communities along the Arcadine Coast. We also have plans to develop major programs in the mountains in Medor, and also in Gonaives where the hurricanes of 2008 resulted in so much destruction. Haiti - Tree planting kombit along the degraded hillsides in Decouvert
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Opinion (continued from page 3) Like most others in Manila, our family’s house was flooded for several hours even though the rainfall there – six hours – was far less than enough to cause such a flood. There was simply no way for the waters to escape the city. What happened that turned the “Pearl of the Orient” into this sodden mess? Well, a combination of several things – some you might not expect. For example, the water could not get out of Manila that night because of plastic bags! If you’re not yet convinced plastic bags are a bad idea, a stroll through Manila the following morning would have changed your mind. They were everywhere, even at the top of 7 foot walls. Everything comes to the Filipino in plastic bags, even the emergency water and relief supplies. Rainwater pours out of Manila into the Bay through a number of estuarios which start as ravines and become open sewers as they near the ocean. So what do people in Manila do with all these plastic bags? Simple, they toss them in the estuarios. There the bags stick to everything and eventually close off the drainage system. That’s why a six hour rainstorm turned deadly. Why do I dwell on the details of this small adventure? Because what happened that weekend in the Philippines, with the earthquake and resulting landslides that killed thousands in Pandang, Indonesia at the same time, is no small thing! These events are happening on a growing scale – year after year, in thousands of communities. Anybody who thinks there is no such thing as
climate change should walk the beaches of the South China Sea or the uplands of Sumatra. The changes are there. You can’t miss them. In these thousands of islands, the saying has long been that when you have high tides and heavy rain together, people of the lowlands are in real danger. The South China Sea along that coast is 14 inches higher than when I first swam there in 1973. Before, they had high tides. Now they have really high tides. And in 40 more years, that town will either be no more or will have moved to higher ground. Climate change seems also to be altering weather patterns. Wet areas are getting more rain. Dry areas are getting less. The drought in southeastern Australia is now in its seventh year. Now add the fact that throughout these islands most upland forests have been clear-cut, burned over year after year, until what few trees made it back were quickly cut and turned into charcoal to sell so as to feed a desperately poor family (made desperate because the forests are no longer there). We met with barangay leaders. With seven barangays from that one town now history, people desperately seek answers. We point out that the only realistic way to end this threat is to plant the trees that will hold these waters in the uplands, slowly releasing them. This is no small task: in the case of Botolan Town alone, it would require planting some twenty million trees. If done correctly these would, over some years, bring about the natural regeneration of another fifteen million trees. And together, the trees of this forest can hold back the floods while also rewarding the people who planted them with a better, sustainable, way of life. Can it be done? We know it can. More important, the people of those upland communities know they can, with some help, restore their lands. TREES is providing some of that help, thanks to you, and we’re looking for more concerned people to join us.
Engine House #4 in Dayton, Ohio (c. 1894) is still standing
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The Philippines (continued from page 4) Francis Deppner with an 8-month-old Acacia angustissima tree
nessed in other parts of the Philippines. During our short time in Cebu we made a detailed project plan to greatly expand our work in the Philippines by planting on the island. The last day there we held an open forum which, despite being planned only the day before, had over 100 people attend from various organizations, community groups, and the press. The turnout showed us that people there are very passionate about preserving and returning the land back to productivity. Our forum made that night’s local news and could still be found in magazines and newspapers in the days and weeks after our trip. Upon our return to Manila we found that the roads to most of our project sites had been blocked off due to flooding or landslides. Fortunately we were able to meet with several people who helped us to spread our message. One of them was Zac Sarian from the Manila Bulletin (the main newspaper in the Philippines) who wrote an article about our work and the negative effects of deforestation. We also benefitted from the Global Mala event whose proceeds benefitted Trees for the Future’s projects in the Philippines. We especially benefited from press coverage of the event on television, radio, and in newspapers. At the Global Mala event, we gave a presentation about our work in the Philippines and explained how people could get involved in tree planting. We also met with members from Ecorestoration, an NGO that has a 450 hectare planting site on the island of Mindinao near San Isisdro in the foothills of Mt. Apo. Overall our trip there was a success as we will be planting many more trees in the Philippines. We also made contacts in Thailand and Malaysia where we plan to expand our Southeast Asia program in 2010. Community leader Joel Lee with Francis and Dave Deppner at the forum
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Progress and Adaptation in Ethiopia Increasing population pressures along with harmful land-use practices in Ethiopia have led (and continue to lead) to severe land degradation throughout the country. In the areas of Ethiopia where TREES is currently working, the primary problem is not lack of resources, as in many countries where we work, but rather poor management of them. As all of you who read this newsletter know well, planting trees to control the erosion of topsoil and restore productivity and health to agricultural lands and degraded watersheds is a very effective way to manage resources (especially soil and water) in a more sustainable way. To be effective over a large area though, this requires planting an enormous number of trees. For this reason, Trees for the Future has been working with its partners since the inception of the program, up until 2009, to expand their tree production capacity. In 2009, TREES, in partnership with their local partner, Greener Ethiopia, produced about 2.4 million seedlings. These seedlings were grown from seed in their Wabe, Qatbare and Cheha nurseries in the Gurage Zone. Throughout July and August, the seedlings were distributed and planted by countless individuals, local organizations and communities. Oversight and technical support were provided where possible and where needed to ensure the seedlings were planted and are cared for properly. In total, twenty-three species of trees were planted to increase diversity and provide a number of products and services to the people and the communities that planted them. Beyond controlling erosion and increasing soil fertility, trees were also planted to provide sustainable sources of fuel and construction wood, fodder, fruits, nuts, coffee, medicine, and more. These goods will be used for household consumption, while the excess products can be sold to supplement families' incomes. In attempting to meet the need for tree planting in Ethiopia, TREES and Greener Ethiopia have focused primarily on increasing production over the past several years. The program has been very successful to this end. In 2009 however, it became increasingly apparent that essential components of the program, including information sharing between partners and monitoring and reporting of program accomplishments, received decidedly less attention. For this reason, TREES scaled back its seedling production for 2009 in order to fo-
cus its resources on improving the coordination of the overall program. To adapt to the programmatic challenges faced in Ethiopia, TREES, along with their partners, have concluded that the best way to strengthen the program would be to put a full-time coordinator on the ground in Ethiopia. At the end of October, that is exactly what they did. Now based in Ethiopia, Program Coordinator Gabriel Buttram will be working closely with Greener Ethiopia to institute new processes to improve important components of the program, including project design, budgeting, training, monitoring and reporting. He will also be working to extend TREES' assistance even further in 2010, through creating partnerships and synergies with more community groups and organizations throughout the country. In TREES' experience, the decisions to
Greener Ethiopia and Trees for the Future staff outside their office in Addis Ababa
send coordinators Josh Bogart (Honduras) and David Tye (Tanzania) to the field full-time have been a boon to both programs, and we are confident that Gabe will be as successful in Ethiopia. Be sure to check out the project page on our website periodically to find out how the program is progressing.
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Introducing Leandro Monteiro In October Leandro Monteiro joined our team at the main office in Silver Spring, Maryland. Leandro will be taking over Gabriel Buttram's position as Business Partnerships Coordinator, as Gabe was stationed in Ethiopia as of October. Leandro has a professional background in marketing and communications and looks forward to using these skills to coordinate current partnerships and to seek out new partnerships with businesses interested in helping to grow our program. As a native of Brazil and an International Studies major in college, he is excited to be working in an environment where he can put his experience to use for a great cause and work with great people around the world.
Introducing Mathius Lukwago Mathius Lukwago is the Uganda Program Coordinator for Trees for the Future. He joined Trees for the Future in May of this year and has proven to be an excellent asset in promoting tree planting and working with local communities throughout Uganda. Mathius grew up in Gombe Village in Mityana District in Central Uganda. According to Mathius, "By the time I was born I found our home was deep in the middle of forest, and people used to call us children from the forest. Personally I loved forest life; and most of my life I spent in the forest, especially during hot days." As Mathius grew older, he became involved in the Ugandan Scouts and became very interested in Scout Law 6: A scout conserves nature. Mathius studied Counseling, Psychology, and Community Work at the Mengo Technical Institute and at the Christian University of Mukono. After he completed his degrees, he left the village he grew up in. "‌The forests I used to protect were destroyed without mercy. Our home, which was deep in the forest, is now like a desert; all the trees were cut down." Mathius now spends considerable time talking with people about the importance of trees, but it is always difficult to convince rural farmers to protect trees and plant more trees. After college, Mathius joined the National Scout Program, which allowed him to begin working with scouts on tree planting projects. He has spent time working with the scouts and local schools to encourage them to establish tree nurseries and plant trees in the local communities. Mathius is pleased to be working with Trees for the Future because it reinforces his commitment to plant trees and reforest Uganda. "The driving factor to promote tree planting is what will I say when my children and grandchildren ask me 'What did you do to protect the environment?" Now with the support of Trees for the Future Mathius can continue working with the love of trees he developed so many years ago growing up in the forests of Central Uganda.
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Best Pictures of 2009
School children and community members in Thomas, Arcahaie are working to rehabilitate their land with the help of Trees for the Future. These school children are planting trees along a degraded hillside.
India - In November, 15,000 seedlings were planted in Nallavanpalayam, Savalpoondi, Melkachirappattu, Varagur, Meyyur and Nachananthal Villages, and Tamil Nadu
The SAM (Sustainability through Agriculture and Micro-Enterprise) Project is based outside of Livingstone, Zambia. Trees for the Future has already provided thousands of seeds to assist these sustainable agriculture and small enterprise development projects.
Page 15 Johnny Ipil-Seed News Vol. XVII, No. 4
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