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Jennifer Leigh Smith Louisiana
was raised in Southwest Louisiana where she earned her Juris Doctorate
degree at Louisiana State University in 1993. After practicing
law for 7 years in Louisiana, Jenny decided to get out of the office
and into “hands on” work to get more directly involved in her mission
to help offset global warming by planting trees. Jenny learned on her
family’s established tree farm that planting trees and good land
stewardship was a first rate profitable business for all involved,
flora and fauna included. Already fluent in Spanish, Jenny made her new home in Costa Rica in 1998, to help preserve the remaining stretches of rainforest on the Central to Southern Pacific coast. She set out to create a socially responsible reforestation company in an area where the effects of carbon sequestration to balance global warming could be compounded. After meeting her mentor Jack Ewing, then working and studying at the Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge, Jenny cultivated a long-standing active relationship with ASANA, the most established grassroots environmental organization in the area, and instrumental in creating the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor. Serving on the Board of Directors for over 4 years, and driving ASANA as President during a period of rampant development in the area, Jenny learned firsthand that the social problems faced by Ticos simply cannot be ignored if lasting conservation work is to succeed in Costa Rica. Jenny has devoted 10 years to finding and brokering appropriate parcels of land for reforestation projects, planting over 160,000 trees, linking together fragmented pieces of rainforest and creating food corridors for both animals and humans. Jenny has worked with many foreign clients on private reforestation projects. But realizing it is not enough for foreigners to come and plant trees on their land, Jenny’s integrated work relationship with local Costa Ricans inspired her to create Community Carbon Trees in Costa Rica as one creative solution to the gambit of environmental and social problems in Costa Rica and the world at large. |
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Juan Angel Mendiola
hails from Mar del Plata, Argentina but is now a Costa Rican resident.
For the last 6 years, Juan has been instrumental in developing the
reforestation capacity of Community Carbon Trees in Costa Rica.
He is responsible for the creation of systems for the safe and
efficient transportation of trees, and the planting of large
reforestation projects in difficult-to-reach locations. Some
projects require infrastructure work such as road and bridge building
or repair, water drainage or supply systems, and Juan designs and
builds or organizes whatever is needed. All projects require
fences, another area of his expertise. Practical on-the-ground
solutions are Juan’s specialty and his skill as a troubleshooter is
invaluable in keeping everything going smoothly. As Work Crew Administrator, Juan is responsible for payroll and insurances for the work crews. He also keeps the crews organized and equipped, healthy and motivated. He is the main link with Luis Arias Alfaro, on-site work manager, to organize the general work team management for day-to-day project planting and maintenance. |
 Luis Arias Alfaro On-Site Captain of Reforestation Crew |
Luis Arias Alfaro has
been working with Jennifer and Juan for over 5 years, planting diverse
large reforestation projects in the Southern Zone. Luis is Captain of
the work crew and is relied upon to transport all workers to work site
each morning and stay on site until work ends. Luis guides the
reforestation crew in day-to-day planting or maintenance work, and
insures that safety and quality are paramount. He implements developed
systems for efficient transport and planting to enable crews to plant
the maximum number of trees in the most effective way. Safety, good
worker communications and respect are of utmost importance, and Luis
serves as the glue for Community Carbon Trees in Costa Rica. Luis also helps to identify and interview Host farm participants and serves as a liaison between Community Carbon Trees and host farm families. |
 Alvaro Cerdas Manager of Sapling Nursery and Tree Transport |
Alvaro Cerdas is a native of the San Juan de Dios valley and has been working with Community Carbon Trees for
over four years managing the tree nursery. Alvaro is in charge of
seed collection from healthy trees of designated species, germination
of the seedlings and transfer into rooting bags, and maintenance of the
saplings until planting season. Alvaro helps to organize boxes
of trees for transport to the planting site and maintains an accounting of which
trees are planted in various zones. Alvaro is passionate about finding
new and rare species to attract and feed wildlife, and help preserve
the natural biodiversity. Over the years, Alvaro has
developed a seed collection network among many local Ticos, who collect
seeds from a wide variety of trees for propagation by Community Carbon Trees. As a result, the nursery currently grows saplings from over 80 different kinds of trees. Alvaro also helps to identify and interview Host farm participants and serves as a liaison between Community Carbon Trees and host farm families. |
 The Work Crew Randy, Luis, Jeffrey, Angelo, Liandro, LuiS, Geiner |
The planting crews are made up of young local men ranging in age from 17 on up, living in San Juan de Dios area. Randy and Liandro have been planting trees with Jenny since she began her reforestation company many years ago. While planting season sometimes sees extra workers added to crew rosters, permanent positions are highly prized as they provide good wages, great benefits with bonuses, and good people with whom to work. |
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Professional Agro-Forester |
Cristian Valenciano Chinchilla
is a professional Costa Rican Agro-forester committed to offering the
best consultation advice necessary for optimal management of trees and
land. Cristian has a long-standing relationship with both Community Carbon Trees and
ASANA. He shares in the vision of sustainable and socially
responsible reforestation for carbon sequestration and is committed to
the long-term development of the project. Cristian is tasked with
the yearly visits to Community Carbon Trees to monitor
growth and maintenance, ensure compliance with the terms of the project
agreements, select appropriate trees for thinning to improve forest
growth rates, and assist with the permits to legally harvest those
trees. As well, he provides advice and assistance to the Tico
farmers in matters of maintenance and forest management. |
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