Jan/Feb 2021: One Farmer’s Journey to Producing Premium Coffee

Climate Week 2020

Meet Our Team

Can trees tip the scale?

Bradley Brandt, Manager of Forest Restoration Programs What do you love about your work at the Arbor Day Foundation?

I love that, through my work, I can make a difference in the world through the planting of trees! I enjoy connecting our members and donors to high-impact tree planting projects and sharing those partnerships and stories.

One farmer’s journey to producing premium coffee.

L

ately, there has been a lot of conversation about trees.

More and more people are recognizing the potential and the possibilities that come from tree planting.

How did you develop a connection with trees?

I am a child of the 70s, so I grew up playing outside. Later on in life, I received a degree in Horticulture and have been pursuing a life of trees/ forestry ever since.

On September 24, Arbor Day Foundation President Dan Lambe hosted a virtual conversation about the validity of and momentum behind trees as a tool to drive environmental change. This Climate Week event included three segments: a #TeamTrees highlight, a policy panel with experts from The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society, and a corporate engagement panel featuring executive speakers from HP, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Salesforce, and UPS.

What is your favorite tree?

Easy question. My favorite tree is the Sweetgum due to its fast growth, leaf shape, fall color, spiky fruit balls, and various medicinal uses.

Discussions focused a series of questions including: • Why is there so much buzz around tree planting?

• How can we utilize trees as a tool to engage new environmental activists to take climate action?

• How does strategic forestry fit into an overarching climate strategy?

• How can corporate leaders incorporate tree planting into effective sustainability strategies?

For more information on leaving a legacy through a planned gift to the Arbor Day Foundation or to let us know you already have, please contact Chloé Sweet at 402-473-9612 or csweet@arborday.org.

50127201

Arbor Day Foundation

More than 100 attendees tuned in to the virtual event to learn more about the important role trees can play in addressing climate change. To watch a recording of the event, visit arborday.org/tipthescale.

•

211 N. 12th St.

•

Lincoln, Nebraska 68508

W

ithin the rain forest community of Carrizal, Honduras, you will find El Naranjo. This 2-acre farm is home to Juan de la Cruz Vasquez and his wife and three children. It is also where the coffee for the first microlot of Arbor Day® Coffee’s new Heritage Coffee Series was grown, harvested, and processed.

Previously, Juan had sold his family’s coffee in cherry form to the local middleman for mass processing and market distribution. But the price he was being paid didn’t match the high quality of his organic, shade-grown crop. A few years ago, he began working with a local organization dedicated to connecting the Santa Elena coffee growing community with specialty roasters — which is how he connected with Arbor Day® Coffee.

Through a serious dedication to sustainability, Juan has made several improvements to his shade-grown farm management practices. He uses lime to control the pH of his soil, fertilizes with organic compost, and applies organic fungicides to control levels of leaf rust — improving the overall health of his farm and the quality of his coffee production. Juan has also begun

processing coffee using his own micro-mill so that he can depulp, ferment, and dry his coffee right onsite. And the extra income he receives for his specialty coffee will be reinvested in the farm, enabling his family to make even more improvements and ensure a better future.

You can support Juan and other farmers like him by purchasing micro-lot coffee from The Heritage Coffee Series. Find out more at arborday.org/heritage.

The Heritage Coffee Series is a new line of premium, small-batch coffee originating from producers dedicated to the highest levels of quality and forest sustainability. In return, we are dedicated to ensuring that farm families receive quality pricing — better than fair pricing — for their amazing coffee.

SAFETY PROTOCOLS IN PLACE The onsite manager, who has remained quarantined from his family to prevent inadvertent spread, has established a streamlined process for tree planters to follow. Fewer people work each day to ensure appropriate social distancing. Handwashing stations have been set up, and everyone is provided a clean reusable mask to wear every day. Trees are being planted farther apart to maintain 2 meters between people at all times, and contact between the tree planters is being limited as much as possible.

Even as the country has been loosening its guidelines, the MBP has maintained strict safety regulations to ensure that the work can continue.

FORWARD MOMENTUM

RAIN FORESTS During a Pandemic Critical work continues in Madagascar with a focus on safety

L

ike almost everything else, tree planting has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that began sweeping the globe in the early months of 2020. But in the rain forests of Madagascar, endangered lemur populations cannot withstand a pause in the important efforts to protect and expand their habitat. Nor can the people who rely on this work for their livelihood. A path forward had to be found.

The goal for 2020 was to plant 750,000 trees — a number that would have been easily attained under normal circumstances. But as we all know too well, 2020 was not a year for normal circumstances. While this milestone would not be reached, everyone pulled together to ensure the work continued. As of October, the MBP had planted nearly 500,000 trees on the island.

Important efforts were also focused in the Montagne des Français region of Madagascar, home to the northern sportive lemur, the world’s most endangered primate. Trees in this area are being illegally cut down for charcoal at an alarming rate, and this species of lemur relies on the trees for survival. More police patrols have been assigned to help curb the problem.

THE IMPACT YOU HELPED TO MAKE Arbor Day Foundation members and donors like you have ensured that progress was still possible in Madagascar this year.

Your support has kept the tree planting — and wages for the workers — going at a time when it is needed most. n

Before catching the last flight out of the country on March 19, Dr. Ed Louis and his team quickly sourced the supplies needed to keep the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership (MBP) operating safely. Preventing the spread of the disease was vital — not only for the tree planters but also for the lemurs themselves, as genome analysis revealed that lemurs are susceptible to the illness.

2

A r b o r D ay F o u n d at i o n O a k S o c i e t y I n s i g h t s

A r b o r D ay F o u n d at i o n O a k S o c i e t y I n s i g h t s

3

SAFETY PROTOCOLS IN PLACE The onsite manager, who has remained quarantined from his family to prevent inadvertent spread, has established a streamlined process for tree planters to follow. Fewer people work each day to ensure appropriate social distancing. Handwashing stations have been set up, and everyone is provided a clean reusable mask to wear every day. Trees are being planted farther apart to maintain 2 meters between people at all times, and contact between the tree planters is being limited as much as possible.

Even as the country has been loosening its guidelines, the MBP has maintained strict safety regulations to ensure that the work can continue.

FORWARD MOMENTUM

RAIN FORESTS During a Pandemic Critical work continues in Madagascar with a focus on safety

L

ike almost everything else, tree planting has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that began sweeping the globe in the early months of 2020. But in the rain forests of Madagascar, endangered lemur populations cannot withstand a pause in the important efforts to protect and expand their habitat. Nor can the people who rely on this work for their livelihood. A path forward had to be found.

The goal for 2020 was to plant 750,000 trees — a number that would have been easily attained under normal circumstances. But as we all know too well, 2020 was not a year for normal circumstances. While this milestone would not be reached, everyone pulled together to ensure the work continued. As of October, the MBP had planted nearly 500,000 trees on the island.

Important efforts were also focused in the Montagne des Français region of Madagascar, home to the northern sportive lemur, the world’s most endangered primate. Trees in this area are being illegally cut down for charcoal at an alarming rate, and this species of lemur relies on the trees for survival. More police patrols have been assigned to help curb the problem.

THE IMPACT YOU HELPED TO MAKE Arbor Day Foundation members and donors like you have ensured that progress was still possible in Madagascar this year.

Your support has kept the tree planting — and wages for the workers — going at a time when it is needed most. n

Before catching the last flight out of the country on March 19, Dr. Ed Louis and his team quickly sourced the supplies needed to keep the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership (MBP) operating safely. Preventing the spread of the disease was vital — not only for the tree planters but also for the lemurs themselves, as genome analysis revealed that lemurs are susceptible to the illness.

2

A r b o r D ay F o u n d at i o n O a k S o c i e t y I n s i g h t s

A r b o r D ay F o u n d at i o n O a k S o c i e t y I n s i g h t s

3

Climate Week 2020

Meet Our Team

Can trees tip the scale?

Bradley Brandt, Manager of Forest Restoration Programs What do you love about your work at the Arbor Day Foundation?

I love that, through my work, I can make a difference in the world through the planting of trees! I enjoy connecting our members and donors to high-impact tree planting projects and sharing those partnerships and stories.

One farmer’s journey to producing premium coffee.

L

ately, there has been a lot of conversation about trees.

More and more people are recognizing the potential and the possibilities that come from tree planting.

How did you develop a connection with trees?

I am a child of the 70s, so I grew up playing outside. Later on in life, I received a degree in Horticulture and have been pursuing a life of trees/ forestry ever since.

On September 24, Arbor Day Foundation President Dan Lambe hosted a virtual conversation about the validity of and momentum behind trees as a tool to drive environmental change. This Climate Week event included three segments: a #TeamTrees highlight, a policy panel with experts from The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society, and a corporate engagement panel featuring executive speakers from HP, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Salesforce, and UPS.

What is your favorite tree?

Easy question. My favorite tree is the Sweetgum due to its fast growth, leaf shape, fall color, spiky fruit balls, and various medicinal uses.

Discussions focused a series of questions including: • Why is there so much buzz around tree planting?

• How can we utilize trees as a tool to engage new environmental activists to take climate action?

• How does strategic forestry fit into an overarching climate strategy?

• How can corporate leaders incorporate tree planting into effective sustainability strategies?

For more information on leaving a legacy through a planned gift to the Arbor Day Foundation or to let us know you already have, please contact Chloé Sweet at 402-473-9612 or csweet@arborday.org.

50127201

Arbor Day Foundation

More than 100 attendees tuned in to the virtual event to learn more about the important role trees can play in addressing climate change. To watch a recording of the event, visit arborday.org/tipthescale.

•

211 N. 12th St.

•

Lincoln, Nebraska 68508

W

ithin the rain forest community of Carrizal, Honduras, you will find El Naranjo. This 2-acre farm is home to Juan de la Cruz Vasquez and his wife and three children. It is also where the coffee for the first microlot of Arbor Day® Coffee’s new Heritage Coffee Series was grown, harvested, and processed.

Previously, Juan had sold his family’s coffee in cherry form to the local middleman for mass processing and market distribution. But the price he was being paid didn’t match the high quality of his organic, shade-grown crop. A few years ago, he began working with a local organization dedicated to connecting the Santa Elena coffee growing community with specialty roasters — which is how he connected with Arbor Day® Coffee.

Through a serious dedication to sustainability, Juan has made several improvements to his shade-grown farm management practices. He uses lime to control the pH of his soil, fertilizes with organic compost, and applies organic fungicides to control levels of leaf rust — improving the overall health of his farm and the quality of his coffee production. Juan has also begun

processing coffee using his own micro-mill so that he can depulp, ferment, and dry his coffee right onsite. And the extra income he receives for his specialty coffee will be reinvested in the farm, enabling his family to make even more improvements and ensure a better future.

You can support Juan and other farmers like him by purchasing micro-lot coffee from The Heritage Coffee Series. Find out more at arborday.org/heritage.

The Heritage Coffee Series is a new line of premium, small-batch coffee originating from producers dedicated to the highest levels of quality and forest sustainability. In return, we are dedicated to ensuring that farm families receive quality pricing — better than fair pricing — for their amazing coffee.