ETICA & Trees for the future:

One of the beautiful surprises we had after looking intensively through the net was the “Trees for the future” page. We were very excited about what they do, the information on their site and their video, so we decided to collaborate with them and become a partner in their extensive list of companies. To start the partnership we made a donation to plant 500 trees and from now onwards we will plant a tree for each product sold in the ETICA-Shop.

Since 1989, Trees for the Future has been helping communities around the world plant trees. Through seed distribution, agro forestry training, and their country programs, they have empowered rural groups to restore tree cover to their lands. Planting trees protects the environment and helps to preserve traditional livelihoods and cultures for generations.

History:

In the early 1970s, Dave and Grace Deppner served as volunteers in the Philippines, where they witnessed the human tragedy brought on by illegal logging and unsustainable land management systems.

Working with community leaders in nearby villages, the Deppner´s found ways to offer hope. They revitalized degraded lands by providing farmers with tree seed, technical training, and on-site planning assistance. People responded enthusiastically, and entire villages joined in, making great sacrifices to save their homes and way of life.

After returning from their overseas assignments they continued what they had started, communicating by mail with rural community leaders and providing information, seeds, and training materials.

After many years of informal operations, Trees for the Future was incorporated as a 501 (c) (3) public charity in Maryland on August 14, 1989. Over the years TREES has assisted thousands of communities in planting millions of trees, which have restored life to land that was previously degraded or abandoned. The trees provide food, fodder, fuel, fertilizer, and medicine for the farmers as well as biodiversity for the landscape.

Mission:

“Trees for the future” are an agro forestry resource centre, working with people to improve livelihoods and restore degraded lands to sustainable productivity through planting beneficial trees.

Planting trees in agro forestry systems provides a myriad of benefits, such as food; forage for animals; sustainable fuel wood and construction materials; increased agricultural yields; improved water infiltration and aquifer recharge; and protection of soils from wind and water erosion.  However, planting trees can be difficult when the canopy has disappeared, topsoil has been eroded, and the climate and growing conditions have changed.

Through their network of technicians, volunteers, and community leaders world-wide, their program reaches out and provides the knowledge and ability to rehabilitate their environment.  Since 1988, Trees for the Future has helped thousands of communities in Central America, Africa, and Asia improve their livelihoods and their environment by planting nearly 65 million trees. They calculate that these trees remove over one and a half million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

They are also active locally, educating students and communities about global issues, our role in the environment, and energy efficiency.

Global Crisis:

The earth is warming up, and the best available evidence points to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases as the leading cause.

Deforestation and climate change are intimately connected: Globally, deforestation releases nearly 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, and is responsible for nearly 25 percent of man-made CO2 emissions. The destruction of the world’s forests not only harms the communities that depend on them, but increasingly affects us all.

While the root causes of deforestation vary from region to region, there are some common solutions. Communities need seeds, training, and technical support in order to adapt long-standing cultural and agricultural traditions (such as gathering fuel wood in nearby forests and practicing slash-and-burn agriculture) to new realities. Starting nurseries and planting trees is part of this process.

There are solution-oriented people. They have developed programs that work, which are restoring trees and forests to degraded lands. They are working with individuals, communities, and other organizations around the world with a shared vision for a positive change. They are a hands-on people-to-people program at the grassroots level, and they are leading by example.

Sustainable Agro forestry:

Agro forestry is a land-use system that integrates agriculture, trees, people, and animals in the same space, resulting in improved soil quality, higher yields, and improved standards of living. Agro forestry has been practiced around the world in varying forms for thousands of years, and as such it works well with the low-input land-management systems that are common throughout the developing world.

Agro forestry techniques are tailored to the needs of the community. In communal forests, tree planting programs focus on large-scale reforestation and the promotion of non-timber forest products. In agricultural fields, fast-growing multipurpose tree species are integrated into the agricultural system for specific functions such as a windbreak, firebreak, woodlot, living fence, contour-planting for erosion control, and alley-cropping to improve soil fertility.