From Trees For the Future:
We are nearly half way through this year and it seems obvious at this point that 2010 is going to be remembered for its environmental impact for many years to come. With the recent explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico we have seen the widespread destruction that local activities can have on our world. It is impossible to find a silver lining in the environmental devastation caused by this disaster, but it is in times such as these that we must hope that the results of positive local activities can be just as far-reaching. Trees for the Future’s work is a local attempt to address worldwide issues such as environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and poverty. Please check out our mid-year update below to learn about the positive local activities that your support makes possible.

Tree News
• News from the Field
o Successful Projects in Uganda
o New Partners in Tanzania
o Training Workshops in Senegal
o Facing Drought in The Philippines
o Expansion in Kenya
o Millions of Seeds in Honduras
o Recovering in Haiti
o Transplanting in Ethiopia
o Collaboration in Cameroon
o Returns in Brazil

News from the Field

Successful Projects in Uganda
Many of the schools that we work with in Uganda have shown an interest in participating in the Tree Pals Program to communicate with students in the US about tree planting and environmental issues. Other successful programs related to tree planting include a producing organic manure and building fuel-efficient stoves. So far this year, the Uganda program has established over 200,000 seedlings in nurseries and planted 35,500 trees with 38 partnering organizations.

New Partners in Tanzania
The Trees for the Future Tanzania Program has added several new partnering organizations this year with which to establish tree nurseries and educate small-holder farmers on the importance of adopting agroforestry techniques. We have distributed approximately 400,000 tree seeds in the first trimester of 2010 and are poised to plant about 1,000,000 trees in Tanzania this year.

Training Workshops in Senegal
Omar held an agroforestry training workshop in Kaffrine, Senegal with over 80 local people from surrounding villages; half of the participants were new to the TREES program. During the workshop they visited the TREES demonstration site to see the application of various agroforestry techniques. The workshop participants will take their new knowledge, as well as the seeds and nursery materials they received, and start their very own nurseries. Our local technicians, Omar and Karamba, are the key to successful workshops. Their knowledge of cultural norms and their fluency in many languages provides an unsurpassed connection with local people.

Facing Drought in The Philippines
The first part of 2010 has been difficult for our Philippines projects as El Niño brought about droughts that have affected the area since October of last year. Much work has been done in order to keep existing seedlings watered and in creating firebreaks to protect project sites as wildfires have affected many communities since the drought began. We are excited to have local schools and community groups to assist our projects during this harsh dry season and in doing so many have started tree nurseries of their own.

Expansion in Kenya
The Trees for the Future Kenya Program continues to expand at a fast rate with projects now being implemented in seven out of Kenya’s eight provinces. Many more Local NGO’s and Community-Based Organizations have requested to receive tree seeds and technical assistance in agroforestry and tree nursery management. Most farmers that have been planting fodder trees are beginning to see an increase in milk and meat production. We have planted 430,000 trees throughout Kenya with over 100 partnering organizations.

Millions of Seeds in Honduras
Trees for the Future distributed approximately 5.1 million seeds to our various partner organizations in Honduras, to begin nursery establishment. Regional coordinator Joshua Bogart and our two local technicians visited new potential partner organizations, including two coffee producing groups in the department of La Paz, small sugar producers in the Municipality of Taulabe, and dairy farmers in the department of Yoro. These visits are part of an effort to focus our tree planting in Honduras on small single community groups, and towards agroforestry instead of the pure reforestation efforts we have supported in Honduras in the past.

Recovering in Haiti
Along the Arcadine coast, TREES is working with 12 communities, including many new communities for 2010, particularly those most impacted following the devastating earthquake. Farmers have been trained in agroforestry and sustainable agriculture techniques. Currently they have around 500,000 seedlings in their nurseries to start outplanting in May. In Gonaives, the program has started working with two rural communities in the mountains surrounding the city. The two communities are producing a total of 100,000 seedlings. The program aims to be fully functional with a central nursery, office, training center, and working in five rural communities by the second half of the year. The project in the Chaines des Cayos is well on its way. Currently there are developing a nursery of about 30,000 seedlings.

Transplanting in Ethiopia
Seedling production in our two largest nurseries in the Guraghe Zone is in full swing. Approximately 2 million healthy seedlings will be ready for planting once the main rainy season begins there, hopefully in July. At the same time, we have been in the process of transplanting 160,000 seedlings from two nurseries in Konso. These seedlings are being planted by communities to restore degraded areas, control erosion, and provide food, fuel wood and forage for families living there.

Collaboration in Cameroon
TREES is currently collaborating with 171 farming associations and working with over 3000 farmers to plant over 2.4 million trees by the end of the year. Cameroon Technician Louis Nkembi and his team have been training local NGOs and rural farmers in agroforestry.

Returns in Brazil
Unlike many of the other TREES programs, in Brazil we start the calendar year with the rainy season and transplanting seedlings. We had a great season with more than 10 times the number of seedlings from 2009. Of those who received seeds, over 70 percent followed through with their plans and transplanted their seedlings to the field. That is an excellent return on our investment in training and capacity building. We have already purchased seeds for our upcoming nursery season and we have even started distributing some seeds to people in the northeast and to people with irrigation in the south. Brazil Technician Fernanda Peixoto and her husband Paulo Polvora developed a new training video and expanded their demonstration site. Both the video and the demonstration site are excellent resources for our training workshops.

Clean Air Cab plants 10 Trees each month for every cab we have on te road furthering our efforts to help the environment. So far we have plannted 2,090 Trees through our partner Trees for The Future. Help us grow and plant even more trees for calling us for your next ride @ 480-777-9777 or use our quick and easy on-line scheduling tool on our website: Schedule a Ride.

March 27, 2010 8:30PM Local

Earth Hour 2010 is off to an incredible start! All around the world, people, organizations and communities are joining the movement. Here in the United States, thousands of people from all 50 states are uniting in the fight against climate change by sharing the Earth Hour message. Together our voice is growing louder.

Today we need to use that voice to get our state governments to join us in the movement. Click the link below to urge your state officials to join hundreds of communities around the world in turning off the lights on March 27th as part of the largest-ever global call for action on climate change. This is our chance to raise awareness and get people involved with the fight against climate change. Use your voice. Make sure your state doesn’t sit on the sidelines.

CLICK HERE

Turn out. Take Action.
Earth Hour. March 27, 8:30-9:30 p.m., local time. Mark your Calendars!

About Earth Hour:
Since its inception three years ago, Earth Hour has captured the world’s imagination becoming a global phenomenon. Last year, for Earth Hour 2009 nearly one billion people in 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents turned out. In the U.S. alone, 80 million Americans and 318 cities officially voted for action with their light switch. These people and municipalities were joined by iconic landmarks including: the Las Vegas Strip, the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings in New York City, the Space Needle in Seattle, Church of Latter-Day Saints Temple in Salt Lake City, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the National Cathedral in Washington DC. International landmarks that turned off their lights included the Great Pyramids of Giza, Parthenon in Athens, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament in London, Paris’ Elysee Palace and Eiffel Tower, Beijing’s Birds Nest and Water Cube, Symphony of Lights in Hong Kong, Sydney’s Opera House and Christ de Redeemer status in Rio de Janeiro.

Our partner – Trees for the Future estimates their agroforestry trees, planted in tropical climates, will sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide at an average of 50 pounds of carbon dioxide per tree per year.
The rate of carbon sequestration depends on the growth characteristics of the tree species, the conditions for growth where the tree is planted, and the density of the tree’s wood. It is greatest in the younger stages of tree growth, between 20 to 50 years.

To get a yearly sequestration rate they divide by the tree’s age.

To see the more detailed calculation, please CLICK HERE  here for the document from Trees for the Future.

While you are there, you might want to signup to plant some trees or purchase a certificate for a loved one.