Community Carbon Trees in Costa Rica: Welcome

Solutions to global warming is a ‘hot’ topic these days…all the experts agree that human society has irrevocably changed the earth’s climate, and the planet is slowly but surely heating up. The consequences of this change are at present uncertain, but the worldwide weather-related disasters occurring with greater frequency each year are a forecast we cannot ignore. All over the world people are realizing that we need to wake up, and that we ALL need to get involved if we want to slow down global warming. We can’t expect government and industry to fix things for us especially since our personal lifestyles and consumption patterns are a large part of the problem. We support the businesses that pollute our world. As Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore pointed out in the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, it has now become a “moral obligation” for each of us to address the problem of global warming and do something about it. A solution will only be found if each of us helps in our own way…by lowering our consumption of fossil fuels, using sustainable energy technologies, and planting trees to clean carbon from the air and sequester it in the earth again. ~What is global warming?

Planting trees is an integral part of the solution, but is it really enough to just plant some trees and figure the world is saved? Not really. A truly sustainable and progressive reforestation approach must address many related issues that plague developing tropical countries like Costa Rica: loss of wildlife habitat and food sources, watershed destruction, erosion and degradation of soils, loss of land to foreign developers, and the needs of local communities for employment, food and reliable income from their land.

Community Carbon Trees synchronize solutions to these inter-related issues by creating multipurpose forests that not only sequester carbon, but also benefit the local people, wildlife, and environment. They are an excellent way to plant trees in an environmentally and socially responsible way, and let folks like you do your part to help stop global warming. Community Carbon Trees are specifically designed to shelter and feed wildlife while supporting local communities and farmers, not just with food and employment, but also with long-term income that may encourage them to hold onto their land. ~Synchronizing solutions with trees.

Plant Forests of Trees to Sequester Carbon Dioxide:

Unlike the giant monocultures planted for future clearcutting on corporate-owned tree farm sequestration projects, Community Carbon Trees plants small forests on family farms owned by local Costa Ricans (Ticos). These forests are highly diverse plantings of indigenous hardwood, softwood, food and medicinal trees, closely replicating a natural forest matrix. The Tico landowner commits a minimum 5 hectare (12.5 acre) plot to create a Community Carbon Trees forest and priority is given to areas that provide erosion control or watershed protection, and/or connect existing areas of natural rainforest to create wildlife corridors. Experienced teams of Community Carbon Trees-trained workers plant the trees and see them through the critical first 3 years. ~About Us After that the Tico farmer is responsible for maintaining the forest for a minimum of 22 more years. In return for use of the land and maintenance, the Landowner receives free reforestation of their degraded areas, plus the right to harvest fruit and medicinal plants, and to sell the wood from trees that are strategically selected for thinning by a Community Carbon Trees agronomer. Periodic thinning promotes optimal growth rates and carbon sequestration potential, and the forests are inspected yearly to ensure proper maintenance and compliance. The whole project lifespan is outlined clearly in comprehensive legal agreements with the landowners. As well, the forests are protected in the Costa Rican National Land Registry under Conservation Easement and remain protected even if the farm is sold. ~More project details.

So how do you fit into this picture?

Community Carbon Trees needs your energy and your commitment to offsetting your personal carbon emissions by planting trees. For only $20 per tree you can plant as many Community Carbon Trees as you like. These trees will offset 4 tons (every 100 trees) of carbon every year for at least 25 years. If you are an average North American you are personally responsible for releasing 40 - 60 tons of carbon per year into the atmosphere, so a mere 100 trees will go a long way towards giving you a carbon neutral lifestyle. ~Calculate carbon outputs

Your energy to sponsor trees will combine with the energy of so many others who also wish to balance global warming, create biological corridors for wildlife survival, preserve watersheds and ocean environments, and act responsibly to support local communities. Together, we CAN make a difference both environmentally and socially.

Here’s how to do it… We are now taking bookings for the 2008 Community Carbon Trees on the local family farms. Please reserve your trees soon to make sure they get planted this year. Logistically our crews can only safely plant a maximum number of trees each year and we’d like to help YOU go carbon neutral in 2008.

“If we are truly to create lasting solutions to the environmental problems facing the planet, we have to do MORE than plant trees for global warming. . . . Ideally, we also have to find ways to preserve local communities and cultures, while immediately rebuilding deforested soils, wildlife corridors and protecting watersheds and old growth forests. Especially in countries like Costa Rica where the real estate development business threatens to destroy some of the last healthy, remaining coastal rainforest and whale breeding waters left in all of Central America.”

~Jennifer Smith, Founder and President of Community Carbon Trees in Costa Rica