In the heart of the jungle...
...where there is no electricity, no 24-hour cable news, barely a road, and no newspaper in the native language, deforestation is not newsworthy. Deforestation is hardly even a word, it is simply what is done to survive. Reforestation is neither a word nor a concept. It is the exact opposite of what survival dictates.
As Green As It Gets™ has developed a reforestation program for the Ixcan Rainforest - a small tropical jungle in Quiche, Guatemala. We work with inhabitants covering approximately 6,000 acres. About half of this acreage has been slashed and burned for agriculture.
Our program involves a demonstration planting plot, training and seedstock and greenhouse supplies. Most importantly, it includes a plan for farmers to provide food for their families and earn income by reforestation. Previously, food and income were only found in deforestation.
Last year, we planted more than 5,000 trees on private rainforest land. This year, we have distributed more than 50,000 seeds for reforestation. 35 people now run their own small greenhouses, raising 100 or 1000 seedlings for planting in their own land or selling to their neighbors.
...where there is no electricity, no 24-hour cable news, barely a road, and no newspaper in the native language, deforestation is not newsworthy. Deforestation is hardly even a word, it is simply what is done to survive. Reforestation is neither a word nor a concept. It is the exact opposite of what survival dictates.
As Green As It Gets™ has developed a reforestation program for the Ixcan Rainforest - a small tropical jungle in Quiche, Guatemala. We work with inhabitants covering approximately 6,000 acres. About half of this acreage has been slashed and burned for agriculture.
Our program involves a demonstration planting plot, training and seedstock and greenhouse supplies. Most importantly, it includes a plan for farmers to provide food for their families and earn income by reforestation. Previously, food and income were only found in deforestation.
Last year, we planted more than 5,000 trees on private rainforest land. This year, we have distributed more than 50,000 seeds for reforestation. 35 people now run their own small greenhouses, raising 100 or 1000 seedlings for planting in their own land or selling to their neighbors.
Jesus Imul from the Ixcan community and Franklin Voorhes from As Green As It Gets examine the seedlings Jesus is tending.
Demonstration planting plot
In 2007, ten men from the Ixcan community each planted 140 trees in our demonstration planting plot. They planted in a comprehensive style that provides short term food (bananas, pineapple, beans), short term income (cardamom cash-cropping), firewood (tamarind, madre de cacao), and long term income (various hardwoods).
The objectives of our demonstration planting plot are to teach people of the Ixcan community how to sustain themselves while replanting forests, and to study the effectiveness of these plantings on biodiversity.
Our ultimate goal is for the community members to take what they learned and apply it to their own fields, and influence community members to do the same, thereby beginning to change the culture to one of tree planting instead of burning.
It has already begun. Six of the ten men working on the demonstration plot have already planted small fields of hardwood trees on their own land.
In 2007, ten men from the Ixcan community each planted 140 trees in our demonstration planting plot. They planted in a comprehensive style that provides short term food (bananas, pineapple, beans), short term income (cardamom cash-cropping), firewood (tamarind, madre de cacao), and long term income (various hardwoods).
The objectives of our demonstration planting plot are to teach people of the Ixcan community how to sustain themselves while replanting forests, and to study the effectiveness of these plantings on biodiversity.
Our ultimate goal is for the community members to take what they learned and apply it to their own fields, and influence community members to do the same, thereby beginning to change the culture to one of tree planting instead of burning.
It has already begun. Six of the ten men working on the demonstration plot have already planted small fields of hardwood trees on their own land.