1000 trees a year 1000 acres of rainforest forever

Dear Friends,

It’s been six months since our last missive.  This has been a period of tremendous growth and opportunity for Camino Verde, and I’m happy to finally catch my breath and share with you some of what’s been going on with us in the Peruvian Amazon and beyond.  Let’s catch up.

We’re raising the bar on tree planting. Those of you who have kept up on our Missives know that we’ve maintained a pace of planting one or two thousand trees a year at our reforestation center in Tambopata.  Not to mention many others planted with small farmers and native communities elsewhere.  We’ve learned from these experiences, and we’re ready to do more. With our new partner, solar provider Viridian Energy we’ll be planting over 3000 trees in January 2016, in addition to the couple thousand trees we already have lined up for the end of 2015.

…And raised it again.  A generous pledge for 2016 means we’ll be able to hit an amazing first time milestone - 10,000 trees planted in a year! For now, suffice to say that the number of trees isn’t the only awesome thing about next year’s campaign. I can’t wait to share with you more about this incredible opportunity in future missives. A teaser preview? Let’s just say it involves rising to our region’s greatest challenge: planting trees in some of the most degraded areas in all of the Amazon.

10,000 trees celebrating our 10th year of reforestation work in Tambopata!

And, we’re keeping more forest alive.  I’m proud to announce the creation of the Sherblom Family Forest, an additional 40 acres of primary rainforest that we will protect in perpetuity.  Many thanks to the Sherblom family for helping prevent the deforestation of this virgin area’s incredible trees. We only regret not acting in time to avoid the felling of a 7 foot diameter giant kapok tree, whose destruction may somehow be redeemed as the inspiration for keeping this area wild.

It’s time – sharing our experiences to inspire more reforestation.  The proof is in the pudding. For the first time ever we’re measuring every single one of the thousands of trees planted at our reforestation center.  With over 300 Amazonian species planted, this unique body of knowledge will grow annually along with the trees themselves and provide reliable data to demonstrate the viability of planting trees that nobody is planting.  Biodiversity preservation… in action!  The research is being carried out alongside thesis students from our local university UNAMAD, with participation from respected Lima universities La Agraria and Cayetano Heredia and the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP). 

More Camino Verde news at a glance (or, There will be bullet points):

•Our consultation branch continues to grow.  Many of you asked, and I’m happy to share that it’s now confirmed that we’ll be back in Uganda before the end of the year, working with our allies at Wild Forests and Fauna and Mon Ma Ryek (Wise Women of Uganda) to establish a tree nursery with capacity to provide an astonishing 100,000 native tree seedlings a year.  (Did I mention we’re raising the bar on tree planting?)  We’re currently seeking partners interested in collaborating with us to develop the carbon offset potential for this work.  Know anyone trying to “buy” a few tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere? Drop us a line.

•Did somebody say rosewood? In February 2016 we’ll be back in Brillo Nuevo, the native community that’s home to 500 Brazilian rosewood trees, with the intention of doing our first ever distillation of essential oil from these trees, planted with and cared for by our native Bora allies.  Our search for more rosewood seeds continues— and this year we’ll continue experimentation with vegetative propagation, to help bring back this IUCN Red List endangered species. 

•And rosewood’s cousins?  We’re currently distilling several liters a month of essential oil from one of our flagship trees – Moena alcanforada – a close relative of rosewood.  We are the only producers of this essential oil in the world!  Many thanks to our first round partners in demonstrating the oil’s value, from the fragrance alchemy of L’oeil du Vert to the aromatherapy expertise of Wisdom of the Earth and now, Floracopeia.  Securing a market for this oil means we can plant more of these trees.  We’re starting next year with an additional 1000 of them on the farms of two of our longtime farmer allies in Tambopata. A better income from planting trees than from cutting them down— that’s our goal in a nutshell.

•GlobalGiving’s Sustainable Development Goals.  In celebration of the launch of the new Sustainable Development Goals at UN Week, GlobalGiving is highlighting three projects working to achieve each new goal. They’re featuring our Carbon Footprints project because we’re one of their highest-ranked partners that’s committed to learning and effectiveness.  This will mean more exposure for our organization to a broader network individual, corporate, and institutional supporters looking for a meaningful way to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more here. 

•A growing family.  You may be scratching your head as to how all this growth has come about. The answer is our amazing team.  I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be working with the inspired, inspiring crew that is the la familia de Camino Verde.  And we’re growing, welcoming new staff, interns and allies into our midst.  

Now, I know you’ve heard this before, but the other key member of our team is you. People are often amazed to hear that our number one source of funding is the individual donors who believe in our cause. We truly couldn’t do any of this without your support.

Thank you so much for contributing.  

It’s Amazonian springtime, and the blossoms are outrageous. Kaleidoscopic parrots feast on fiery Erythrina flowers, themselves looking like exotic birds.  The deciduous trees of the rainforest are dropping their leaves or barely budding out once again, adorned with what looks like yellow foam here or purple gauze there, made of thousands of tiny blooming trumpets.  The night is a tapestry of voices and stars.  That’s what I mean when I say, greetings from the Amazon.  Thanks for helping to keep alive this place that I love so much.

Gratefully,