About Us: Mission

    We are an agroforestry resource center, working with people to improve livelihoods and restore degraded lands to sustainable productivity through planting beneficial trees.

Planting trees in agroforestry 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 our network of technicians, volunteers, and community leaders world-wide, our program reaches out and proivdes 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. We calculate that these trees remove over one and a half million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

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

    Our Work In India

Population : 1,147,995,904 (July 2008 est.)

Overview : While almost one million acres of land in Assam, West Bengal, and other regions in Northwest India and Bangladesh get flooded regularly, the people of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India, 1000 miles away from the flood zones, are struggling with drought and a lack of fresh water.

Our Response : Trees for the Future is working with farming communities, schools, and women’s groups through a network of local organizations to address the water crisis that is punishing the region’s agricultural production and the health of the people.

Program Update : We have translated our Agroforestry training program into Telugu, and will soon complete the translation into Tamil. In-country seed distribution is underway, and we hope to distribute over 2 million seeds as part of our programs in 2009.
 

    Overview of Social and Environmental Issues
While almost one million acres of land in Assam, West Bengal, and other regions in Northwest India and Bangladesh get flooded regularly, the people of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India, 1000 miles away from the flood zones, are struggling with drought and a lack of fresh water. Trees have been cleared, erosion is stripping topsoil from farmlands, and little rainwater is channeled back into aquifers. In the end of 2004, the great tsunami hit Tamil Nadu causing further destruction to an already struggling region.

While some sectors of Indian society have greatly improved their standards of living, life for the average farmer continues to be a struggle for survival. Thanks to the vagaries of commodity prices and the weather, the high costs of pesticides and fertilizers, and declining yields, India has experienced a horrifying number of farmer suicides. At the same time, common lands continue to be degraded, as overgrazing and fuelwood harvesting destroy the remaining fertility.
 

    Our Response
Trees for the Future is working with farming communities, schools, and women’s groups through a network of local organizations to address the water crisis that is punishing the region’s agricultural production and the health of the people. There is interest in planting a variety of fruit trees, timber and non-timber species suitable for the degraded red soil - with the emphasis being placed on planting fast-growing, multipurpose species that are supplying a wide array of products while serving as barriers to minimize further erosion.

The majority of all our work over the last two years has been in the region of Tamil Nadu, the southeastern region hit hardest by the devastating 2004 tsunami. We have recently expanded to Andhra Pradesh, a region that is suffering from prolonged droughts, and in 2009 we are starting a new program in the northern state of Uttarakhand, which will be working with villages and local governments to enhance the productivity of common lands.
 

Program Update: January 2009
We have translated our Agroforestry training program into Telugu, and will soon complete the translation into Tamil. In-country seed distribution is underway, and we hope to distribute over 2 million seeds as part of our programs in 2009. Our partners continue to find new and innovative ways to plant trees, in a region that has extremely high population density. The India program continunes to grow, and we have contacts throughout the country that are ready to start planting trees in the coming year.