Fourth Year assessments of Eco-Libris planting partners are available now online

This is our last post for 2011 and just like we did in 2008, 2009 and 2010 we dedicate it to announce that the annual assessments (2010-11) of our planting partners are now available online!

Here's a little bit more about these assessments: As part of our pledge to quality service to our customers, we decided at the beginning of our operations to conduct annual assessments of our planting partners.The two main goals of these assessments are: 1. to verify the quality of the planting operations and to make sure the high standards we promise to our customers are kept and 2. to provide our customers with details on the tree planting operations they support to balance out their books.

This is the fourth year we're conducting these assessments. Right now, two of them (SHI and AIR) are available online, and the third one (RIPPLE Africa) will be available within couple of weeks.

You are invited to read them (see links below) and also visit our planting partners' websites to learn more about them. Links to past assessments for each of our planting partners, as well as links to their websites, are available on our planting partners page.

Here are links to the two reports that are currently available:

AIR's assessment

SHI's assessment

We will keep you posted of course with more data, photos and videos from the planting operations! Thanks again to our planting partners and to everyone that was involved in the work on the assessments.

Photo credits:

Photo 1: SHI, Panama

Photo 2: AIR, Guatemala

Happy New Year!
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

SHI & Eco-Libris: Launching Culantro Rojo Organics

I'm happy to update you on a new article of Eylon Israely of Eco-Libris that was published on the spring newsletter of our planting partner, SHI.

Eylon wrote a great article that is focused on Culantro Rojo Organics, Panama’s first organic C.S.A. supplied chiefly by SHI’s farmers, which he established after relocating to Panama in 2008. I see Culantro Rojo Organics not only as an innovative social venture, but also a green initiative that has developed from Eco-Libris and the relationship we established over the years with SHI. I hope we'll see more of such green initiatives incubated in Eco-Libris in the upcoming years!

You can read the article at http://sustainableharvest.org/news-articles/articles/newsletter-articles/partnerships-in-action (The second one from the top).

To learn more on Culantro Rojo visit http://www.culantrorojo.com/

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Annual assessments of Eco-Libris' planting partners are available now online

photo from the Eco-Libris' planting areas in Panama, courtesy of SHI: Nursery of 2,000 trees including mahogany,cedro espino (Bombacopsis quinata), cedro amargo (Simarouba amara) and chime tree

This is our last post for 2010 and just like we did in 2008 and 2009, we dedicate it to announce that the annual assessments (2009-10) of our planting partners are now available online!

Here's a little bit more about these assessments: As part of our pledge to quality service to our customers, we decided at the beginning of our operations to conduct annual assessments of our planting partners.The two main goals of these assessments are: 1. to verify the quality of the planting operations and to make sure the high standards we promise to our customers are kept and 2. to provide our customers with details on the tree planting operations they support to balance out their books.

As always, the trees planted by our planting partners provide multiple significant benefits to both the local communities in the areas where they are planted and to the environment. This year we had an example of it in Guatemala in the tragic circumstances of the tropical storm Agatha that took place in May 2010, causing horrific flooding and mudslides (see photo below, credit: Ann Hallum) that killed at least 145 people, washed away crops and highways, and hundreds of homes. Particularly hard hit was the Department of Chimaltenango where AIR works. Dr. Ann Hallum, the Director of AIR, reports about the difference AIR's trees made then on AIR's assessment:

During the summer of flooding, 2010, I witnessed most dramatically the power of trees (especially pine trees, with their deep tap roots). Over and over again, we saw that where there were no trees, the mudslides occurred, and in areas right next to a slide with trees, the mountainside held together. More than once, we saw a young forest planted by AIR stop the mudslides that would have destroyed small houses below, and a stream. As the AIR technician said, “the trees stood against the mud like little soldiers.” We are planting more urgently than ever!

AIR tree nursery; Santa Apolonia; Rebecca Hallum, Anne Hallum, with Luis Iquique and the resident committee, June 2010 (photo: Ann Hallum)

This is the third year we're conducting these assessments. You are invited to read them (see links below) and also visit our planting partners' websites to learn more about them. Links to both the first year's and second year's assessments for each of our planting partners, as well as links to their websites, are available on our planting partners page.

Another example is Malawi, Africa where our partner RIPPLE Africa is working. Their video below shows the effects of deforestation and bush burning in Malawi and also illustrates the woodland conservation program that RIPPLE Africa has initiated there.

This video shows both sides of reality in Malawi - deforestation and frustration on one side and reforestation and hope on the other side, which we're proud to support.



Another video we would like to recommend is Planting Hope - The Story of Sustainable Harvest International (Video generously filmed & produced by Myriad Media) that provides a closer look at the great work our partner SHI is doing in Central America, including the planting of over 2.7 million trees in countries such Belize, Panama, Nicaragua and Honduras since 1997.




Here are links to the three reports:

AIR's assessment

RIPPLE Africa's assessment

SHI's assessment

We will keep you posted of course with more data, photos and videos from the planting operations! Thanks again to our planting partners and to everyone that was involved in the work on the assessments.

Happy New Year!
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Annual assessments of Eco-Libris' planting partners are available online

(photo from the Eco-Libris' planting areas in Panama, courtesy of SHI: Nursery of 2,000 trees including mahogany,cedro espino (Bombacopsis quinata), cedro amargo (Simarouba amara) and chime tree)

This is our last post for 2009 and we're happy to close the year with an update from our website - the annual assessments (2008-9) of our planting partners are now available online!

Here's a little bit more about these assessments: as part of our pledge to quality service to our customers, we decided at the beginning of our operations to conduct annual assessments of our planting partners.The two main goals of these assessments are: 1. to verify the quality of the planting operations and to make sure the high standards we promise to our customers are kept and 2. to provide our customers with details on the tree planting operations they support to balance out their books.

This is the second year we're conducting these assessments. We do it under the guidance of our environmental advisor, Gili Koniak, and you are invited to read them via the links below. Links to both the first year's and second year's assessments for each of our planting partners on our planting partners page.

SHI's assessment: http://www.ecolibris.net/SHI_Assessment_second%20year.pdf

RIPPLE Africa's assessment: http://www.ecolibris.net/RIPPLE_ Africa_Assessment_2008-9.pdf

AIR's assessment: http://www.ecolibris.net/AIR_Assessment_2008-9.pdf

(photo from the Eco-Libris' planting areas in Panama, courtesy of SHI: Mr Guadalupe shows off his cedro espino)

As we reported earlier this year, we visited this year SHI and their planting operations in Panama. We will continue next year to work closely with our planting partners and we plan to visit at least one of the organizations on their planting sites.

We will keep you posted of course with more data, photos and hopefully also videos from the planting operations! Thanks again to our planting partners and to everyone that was involved in the work on the assessments.

Happy New Year!
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Help SHI win up to $1 million for with just a few clicks on FaceBook!

Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) are one of our three planting partners that does an important work in Central America, providing farming families there with the training and tools to overcome poverty while restoring our planet''s tropical forests.

And now you can help them to win up to $1 million in a Facebook-based contest of Chase Community Giving. It's really simple - just a couple of clicks and it can really help this great organization, so I hope you'll find the time and vote for them. And don't forget tomorrow is the last day you can vote!

How do you do it and how important is it to SHI? you can read about it in the message below sent from Florence Reed, the founder and president of SHI:

A minute or two of your time might just make the difference for Sustainable Harvest International in winning up to $1 million in the Facebook-based Chase Community Giving Contest. And we could really use this miracle right now as several of our biggest donors find that they cannot donate what we expected from them this month.

Facebook users can cast a vote - no later than December 11^th - for Sustainable Harvest International as we compete for the Chase prize.

If you’re not already on Facebook, this might be a good time to join or you can forward this email to your friends who might be on FaceBook. If you are already a member, please take a few seconds to cast your vote for Sustainable Harvest International in the Chase Community Giving Contest on Facebook!

Quick and easy steps to casting your vote for Sustainable Harvest International:
1. Visit the <<Chase Community Giving>> site ( http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/707760)

2. Search for “Sustainable Harvest International.”

3. Sign-in to your Facebook account.

4. Click “Allow.”

5. Click the “Vote for Charity” button.

6. Become a fan.

7. Post to your profile

Once you’ve cast your vote, be sure to tell your friends to do the same! The only way for us to win is if all of you vote for us and get a number of your friends to vote for us and tell their friends

In the Chase Contest, the nonprofit with the most votes by December 11th wins $1 million, the top five runners-up win $100,000, and the top 100 thereafter win $25,000! Together we have a real chance to add needed support to our environmental and humanitarian projects abroad in Central America. Thank you for your time and caring!

Thanks,
Flo

Florence Reed, Sustainable Harvest International , www.sustainableharvest.org
Planting Hope, Restoring Forests, Nourishing Communities

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!

Kudos to SHI for earning Charity Navigator's highest 4-star rating for the fourth consecutive year!

We are very proud in our three planting partners that we work with to plant trees in developing countries.

Not only that they do a great job in planting trees and benefiting the life of local communities in Africa and Central America, but they also do it very efficiently and responsibly, making sure that funding is being used in the best way possible.

The latest example is coming from Sustainable Harvest International (SHI), which has earned Charity Navigator's highest 4-star rating for the fourth consecutive year! With an exceptional score in organizational efficiency and low overhead, SHI spends just 8% of its budget on administration.

This is a very impressive achievement! Here's what Trent Stamp, President of Charity Navigator, has to say about SHI:

"Only 7% of the charities rated have received at least 4 consecutive 4-star evaluations, indicating that Sustainable Harvest International consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way, and outperforms most other charities in America. This "exceptional" designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Sustainable Harvest International from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust."

You're welcome to check out further details on SHI's performance on their Charity Navigator's profile and also visit their website at http://www.sustainableharvest.org/

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Visit with Sustainable Harvest International's Panama Office

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting, for the second time since moving to Panama, the folks of Sustainable Harvest International (SHI, or CSI, as the Spanish abbreviation of Cosecha Sostenible Internacional goes) and travel with them around the field in the Coclé province of Panama, to see how sustainable reforestation really happens.

When I first explained to some friends in Panama City that I am about to visit an organization working on reforestation with local communities in “El Interior” (Panamanian for “Boondocks”), to say they were skeptics would be an understatement. There is a reason for that of course. Slash & burn agriculture is widely practiced here and the humble day to day subsistence standard of living of many agricultural communities is regarded as a hindrance to seemingly lofty consideration of environmental impact and global warming. The work of Sustainable Harvest in Panama proved to me that change is possible, and is happening. All it takes is resolve and a lot of hard work. Sustainable Harvest has the dubious pleasure of never preaching to the choir, and making change happen where its most needed.

We first met with country director, Rodrigo Rodriguez, and field trainer Diomedes Arrocha at SHI's office in Penonomé, the regional capital. Since this time of the year the rains come down hard and heavy in the afternoon, we decided to head right out to the field and reserve the presentation about the recent activities to later. We started south on the Inter-American highway from Penonome and after about 5 minutes turned left towards the inland communities of Juan Diaz, San Juan de Dios and El Entradero.

Our first stop on the road was at the farm of Sebastian Arauz at the small community of El Chumical. Arauz planted with SHI's help 500 coffee plants and 500 guayacan trees in June. He was initially skeptic when SHI began working in the area two years ago, but the benefits demonstrated by his neighbors convinced him to give it a try. So what's the lure of reforestation? In a nutshell, by understanding the needs of the community and families, SHI is able to provide solutions, and while at it encourage sustainability, reforestation and organic farming. In this case for example, SHI is working with Sebastian Arauz on several levels. First of all they offer him free organic seeds of the shade loving coffee plant to create a commercially viable crop. They also provide him with the seeds of the beautiful native Guayacan that will provide the shade for the coffee plantation.

(Farmer Sebastian Arrauz (left) and Diomedes Arrocha of SHI (right)

However, it does not end here. In tropical Panama there are basically only two seasons. The rainy season and the dry season. In the area of El Chumical, where Arauz's farm is located, generations of unsustainable farming, burnings and tree cuttings along the rivers dwindled the natural water resources. Watering the plants during the dry season is not a trivial task, and SHI is helping with innovative manual pump designs, and know-how. The reforestation work being done upstream in other communities will eventually help Arauz and his farm as well.

For us at Eco-Libris it will be interesting to keep on following these coffee and Guayacan trees over the years and see them grow and transform the quite dreary landscape around them.

In the next blog installation I will tell more about SHI's organic farming and reforestation work in the communities of El Entradero, where they also introduced a more sustainable woodstove design that helped reduce the community's usage of firewood for cooking significantly.

To be continued...

Did you see our planting partner SHI on Oprah Magazine?

Getting a mention on Oprah Magazine is the desire of many (including Eco-Libris!).

We haven't got there yet, but we're proud to have a planting partner who did - Sustainable Harvest International (SHI).

On the June Issue of Oprah Magazine you can a profile of 4 Hotels With an Edge On "Voluntourism", or in other words hotels that "are helping guests plug into charitable projects during their stays."

One of the hotels profiled on the magazine is Cotton Tree Lodge in Belize and you can read there also about their unique partnership with SHI. The magazine describes how you can volunteer:

"If you don't mind a little mud on your boots, join SHI for daylong projects in the surrounding villages, helping families plant vegetable gardens, build chicken coops, or construct eco-friendly wood-burning stoves."

You can read more about it here - http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/omagazine/200906-omag-volunteer-vacations/2

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing

Eco-Libris reached the milestone of 100,000 new trees!

In his interesting manifesto that was published last Sunday on the New York Time Magazine ("The Case for Working with Your Hands"), Matthew Crawford writes: "Working in an office, you often find it difficult to see any tangible result from your efforts. What exactly have you accomplished at the end of any given day?"

Well, he's definitely right and we're happy that although we do sit in an office, we have successfully created what Crawford calls a chain of cause and effect - connecting between the willingness of our customers and business partners (publishers, authors, bookstores and so on) to green up their books (cause) and the new trees planted on their behalf with our planting partners (effect).

Our accomplishments are measured in various ways, but one of the main measurements we have by the end of any given day is the number of new trees planted, and we're very happy to announce that we have reached the milestone of the 100,000th new tree that is being planted on behalf of our customers and business partners!

This is a very exciting moment for us, as we look back and see all the work done so far to follow our vision, making reading more sustainable. We're also very proud of our planting partners that are doing a wonderful job, not only by planting these trees, but also by ensuring that these trees are planted in high ecological and sustainable standards and their ongoing benefits both to the environment and to the local communities living in the planting areas.

So kudos to all the avid readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others who care about the environment and work with us to green up their books, to AIR, RIPPLE Africa and SHI and last but not least to the wonderful team of Eco-Libris who made it all possible! Thank you all!

We will continue our efforts and work even harder to make sure the next celebration of the 200,000th new tree will take place as soon as possible.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

* The photos above are courtesy of The Alliance for International Reforestation (AIR) and RIPPLE Africa respectively

Help SHI win important funding!

We just received an important message from our planting partner Sustainable Harvest International (SHI). The message is from Florence Reed, founder and President of SHI. As you can see, it asks for help with a contest that can generate SHI important funding.

So here is the message:

Last week, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) announced the exciting opportunity to turn your $10 donation into $10,000. More than 125 generous supporters responded to the challenge and put SHI in second place on Razoo.com's March Goodness Contest! If you are one of those 125 people who have gotten us this far, I am very grateful to you. Now as the end of the contest draws near and SHI has fallen into third place, I am once again asking for your help!

Thanks to an anonymous donor, any gifts received on Razoo.com, beginning today through March 31st, will be matched dollar for dollar up to $1,000! SHI currently has 125 donations, and we need the help of you and your friends to pull ahead of the first place organization that currently has 170 donations!

The organization with the most donor supporters this March will win grants of $500, $1,500, $3,000, and $10,000! A gift of $10,000 would be enough for SHI to fund any of the following projects:

• Support SHI’s work with more than two communities for an entire year!
• Support SHI’s work with over 22 families for an entire year!
• Sustain 100 school village programs for an entire year!
• Plant more than 28,750 trees!

SHI is currently in a tight 3rd place! If you have not yet donated to SHI through Razoo this month, please help SHI win $10,000 by simply logging onto Razoo.com and making a donation. Most important to our success will be for all of you who have already donated or are about to donate or can’t donate now to tell your family, friends and co-workers to make their donation to SHI today. Follow this link to SHI’s profile on Razoo.com and please contribute by March 31st! Please forward this email far and wide with a personal note from you. You can also share information about this effort from SHI’s FaceBook page.

Remember, we can only fund one of the above projects with your dedication and support!

In hope,

Florence Reed
Founder and President

P.S. We would like to once again thank those of you who have already donated through Razoo.com. Due to the currently troubled economy, your continued support is urgently needed. Together we are planting hope, restoring forests, and nourishing communities!

An update from our planting partner SHI

Our planting partner Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) has released their update for February 2009 and it's a good opportunity to get updated in the wonderful work they're doing in Central America.

Founded in 1997 by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Florence Reed, Sustainable Harvest International addresses the tropical deforestation crisis in Central America by providing farmers with sustainable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture. SHI facilitates long-term collaboration among trained local agricultural staff, farmers and communities to implement sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty by restoring ecological stability. You can find the assessment of our first year of collaboration with SHI on this link.

So what you can find on the update?

Seed Loans Make An Impact -Testimony From The Field (Nicaragua): An interesting testimony of Alejandro Gutierrez of El Asentamiento, Kukra Hill in Nicaragua about his experience with SHI.

Here's a part of it: "Sustainable Harvest is not an organization that just gives over everything, but rather they teach mutual collaboration. They give us knowledge and we must put it into practice. They lend us grain but we return it so that it can serve other producers, like the loans of seeds and beans. Thank you for helping us so that we can have a little more."

First-Hand in the Field - SHI Board Chair, Tony Barrington, visits Panama:

Tony Barriganton reports on a visit that a group of SHI board members, spouses, friends and staff made to SHI's field program in Panama on January.

You can find there also links with details on SHI's Sustainable Chocolate Tour, Annie's Homegrown collaboration with SHI supporting village schools and more.

You can find February update on this link - http://sustainableharvest.org/mailings/2009/february/SHI_2009_02_Update.html

You're also invited to check out SHI's website, where you can find much more information (and great photos) on their work.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

* Photo above: Some SHI Board members with Panamanian staff and program participants in January 2009 (courtesy of SHI)

Annual assessments of Eco-Libris' planting partners are available online

This is our last post for 2008 and we're happy to close the year with good news - our annual assessments of our planting partners are now available online!

Here's a little bit more about these assessments: as part of our pledge to quality service to our customers, we decided at the beginning of our operations to conduct annual assessments of our planting partners.The two main goals of these assessments are: 1. to verify the quality of the planting operations and to make sure the high standards we promise to our customers are kept and 2. to provide our customers with details on the tree planting operations they support to balance out their books.

Our first year of operation ended in July 2008 and we conducted later on these assessments under the guidance of our environmental advisor, Gili Koniak. The process took couple of months and now the finalized assessments are available online at the following links:

SHI's First Year Assessment: http://www.ecolibris.net/SHI_Assessment.pdf

RIPPLE Africa's First Year Assessment: http://www.ecolibris.net/RIPPLE_Africa_Assessment.pdf

AIR's First Year Assessment: http://www.ecolibris.net/AIR_Assessment.pdf

We will do our best to continue and improve our quality assurance processes. We work closely with our planting partners and will continue to do so on 2009. Our goal for 2009 is to visit the planting operations of at least two of our planting partners.

We will keep you posted of course with more data, photos and hopefully also videos from the planting areas! Thanks again to our planting partners and to everyone that was involved in the work on the assessments.

Happy New Year,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

www.ecolibris.net

Blog Action Day 2008: fighting poverty and deforestation at the same time

This year's Blog Action Day is dedicated to poverty and to ways we can and should fight it. This is a great opportunity to give big kudos to our planting partners, who are dedicated not only to fight deforestation in developing countries, but also to fight poverty in these areas.

In many cases, deforestation and poverty goes together. I would like to quote from a letter of Florence Reed, founder and president of Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) few months ago that explains this connection:

"More than 158 million acres of forest were destroyed in Latin America and the Caribbean from 1990 to 2005, the United Nations reports. Slash-and-burn farming devastates communities and the fragile ecosystems where they live... I recently returned from Nicaragua, where I saw smoldering stretches of land where I had seen lush tropical forest only a few years ago. Ancient trees are being cleared to make way for cattle pasture and African palm plantations or simply burnt for charcoal. The cycle of slash-and-burn depletes nutrients from the soil so that farmers are no longer able to grow their crops. Families are forced to abandon homesteads and seek new areas of forest to burn, or travel to urban areas in search of a better life that they rarely find there. The families burning these stretches of land are living in extreme poverty. They are desperate to learn ways to provide food for their children without destroying the forest.

Sustainable Harvest International is the solution to this vicious cycle of poverty and deforestation. Our local staff provide training in simple techniques that enable families to increase their yields, market their crops, improve their health and restore the environment."

This is only one example of the great work done by SHI, as well as the Alliance for International Reforestation (AIR) in Guatemala and RIPPLE Africa in Malawi. We are proud to collaborate with them and thank them for their efforts to fight both deforestation and poverty.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

* The photo is courtesy of Sustainable Harvest international (SHI)

How about a Chocolate Tour in Belize with SHI?

Love chocolate? interested in a sustainable tour in Belize that is focusing on the ecology, history and culture of chocolate and will also give you the opportunity to plant Cacao trees? Well, we've got some info for you - our planting partner Sustainable Harvest International has few more spots left in its upcoming Sustainable Chocolate Tour to Belize in what promises to be an amazing (and delicious!) adventure!

This trip is part of the Smaller World Program, which was launched by SHI to increase cultural understanding and empower the global community to create a more equitable and sustainable world. The dates for the trip are September 4 - 11, 2008 and Florence Reed, SHI's founder and president, will lead it alongside SHI local Belizean staff and families.

This trip will be both fun and educational, with opportunities to work side-by-side with SHI participant families who are growing cacao (the plant that produces chocolate) in sustainable multi-story forest plots. Participants will tour family farms and take part in traditional Mayan chocolate production, from tree planting to roasting cacao beans on wood-conserving stoves.


Organic Chocolate Belize

Families working with Sustainable Harvest International's programs in Central America are growing Cacao (what chocolate is made from) in multi-story shade forests. These forests protect soils and provide a home for wildlife. In fact, we find that aprox. 85% of the birds that have left deforested areas are returning to these "forest gardens."

Cacao is a valuable cash crop that enables the families working with SHI's programs to increase their incomes while protecting the environment. SHI's local extensionists provide families with materials and training in techniques like pruning which can increase cacao production by as much as 70%.

Not convinced yet? here is the daily schedule of the trip (from SHI website):

Day 1: Arrival: Fly into Punta Gorda, travel by boat up the lush Moho River to Cotton Tree Lodge, an eco-lodge partnering with SHI to host demonstration plots and training workshops. Get settled in one of their beautiful thatched roofed cabanas before joining the group for dinner in the main lodge.

Day 2: The History, Culture and Creation of Chocolate: Organic Farm Tour and Chocolate Workshop with local SHI participant families.

Day 3: Planting Hope:Plant cacao and other forest trees. Take part in agroforestry and reforestation projects on family farms that will restore watersheds, provide animal habitat, protect soil and produce food and income for families.

Day 4: Rocket Stove Workshop:Work side-by-side with local staff and families to construct wood-conserving rocket stoves. These stoves can be used to roast small batches of cacao and to cook family meals. They use 1/4 of the amount of firewood as an open fireplace and greatly reduce toxic smoke in the home. In the afternoon, return to the lodge for some free time to explore the site, swim and relax.

Day 5: Family Gardens and Tree Nurseries: Tour family and school gardens and tree nurseries. Learn about the importance of sustainable planting techniques, compost, grafting, natural pest control and seed-saving.

Day 6: Work projects and sightseeing:In the morning we'll finish up work projects with local families before taking an afternoon waterfall excursion.

Day 7: Cooperatives and Marketing: Visit with representatives from the Toledo Cacao Growers Association and Greens and Black's Organic Chocolate Company. You'll see how fair trade and organic cacao make it from the small farm to you.

Day 8: Departure: Return home or continue traveling on your own.

If you wonders how much this delightful trip costs, it's $2,500, which includes a $500 donation to the local program, all in-country travel expenses, meals, double occupancy accommodations at Cotton Tree Lodge, sight-seeing tours, translation, staff support and materials.

Space is limited. So if you're interested to reserve your spot or looking for further information, please call SHI office at 207-669-8254.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

* photos are courtesy of Sustainable Harvest International (SHI)

The story of Don Cheyo

We bring you from time to time stories and updates from our great planting partners, and today we have a mini-documentary about Honduran farmer Don Cheyo, who grows organic crops and lives sustainably thanks to help from our planting partner, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI).

SHI works in developing countries in Central America - Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Panama. Central America has lost more than half of its rainforests in the last 50 years, contributing to mass extinctions and global warming. Rainforest destruction also wreaks havoc on local populations who depend on the rainforest for their survival.

SHI helps many farmers like Don Cheyo in nearly 100 struggling communities across Central America to reverse rainforest destruction with sustainable land-use practices that allow them to take control of their environmental and economic destinies. SHI is involved in many activities - from trees planting and restoration and preservation of degraded land to educational programs and community loan funds.

Here are some of SHI's achievements within 11 years of operations:

-Planted more than 2,000,000 trees.
- Converted 6,000 acres to sustainable uses, thereby saving 30,000 acres from slash-and-burn destruction.
- Improved nutrition through the establishment of more than 200 organic vegetable gardens.
- Increased farm income up to 800%.
- Built 165 wood-conserving stoves (saving 1,650 trees per year)

SHI is proud in the fact that it works only in communities where we have been invited by local people. One of their main strengths is that their projects are locally initiated and supported by in-country organizations, which helps to ensure that the work will continue long after they left an area.

So, now that you know them a little better, you can lay back and enjoy this video clip. The story of Don Cheyon demonstrates the important work SHI do in few areas - promotion of sustainable agriculture, planting trees, provision of wood-conserving stoves, etc. It was filmed and edited by a media company that is currently producing a documentary on SHI's work (we'll update you as soon as this documentary will be released):



If you like to know more about SHI, please check their website - http://www.sustainableharvest.org/.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

10,000 books were balanced out so far and it's just the beginning!

I am happy to update you that Eco-Libris reached another milestone - 10,000 books were balanced out so far, resulting in more than 13,000 new trees that are being planted by our wonderful planting partners SHI, AIR and RIPPLE Africa!

With the support of our growing number of customers and partners, we'll keep working hard to make reading more eco-friendly and to spread the word about sustainable reading.

Eco-Libris is operating for about six months and we're proud in what we have achieved so far. But it's only the beginning and we're aiming high - our goal is to balance out half a million books by the end of this year. We're positive that with the growing awareness to what we're doing it's doable. As Senator Barack Obama says: "Yes, we can". So, yes, we can and we will!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Picture is courtesy of AIR (AIR's staff members at an AIR tree nursery in the village of Chuitinamit, Dept. of Solola, Guatemala).

More News from the Field : Help Sustainable Harvest International Win $10,000

We got today a newsletter of our planting partners and friends at SHI (Sustainable Harvest International.) Recently storms and hurricanes hit parts of Honduras, Belize and Nicaragua, where SHI operates. But as the newsletter reports planting trees helps prevent more severe damages:

Despite these recent hardships, we feel lucky. Sustainable Harvest Honduras Field Trainer, Juan Carlos Sandres tells us that SHI is not in the business of disaster relief, but disaster prevention - and it's working! In his own words, "After the experience of devastation in my country from Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Sustainable Harvest Honduras has been dedicated to sharing agro-forestry techniques with families that were impacted by the disaster. We have been able to improve many vulnerable areas through soil conservation, reforestation, crop diversification and disaster prevention training. We know that when there are natural disasters, the families we work with are more resilient and their parcels of land are much less susceptible to erosion and crop loss."

So here's your chance to assist SHI with their work in these communities to bounce back from the hurricane damages, and do even better in other places:

SHI has created two groups on a new social networking site and will be eligible to win $10,000 if we can get 100 people to join our online groups. It is free, easy and will not lead to any unwanted mailings. $10,000 could allow SHI to begin work in at least 3 new villages, reaching many more Central American families that are anxiously waiting for our help. Please take a moment to join today and encourage others to do the same.

Register at http://beta.razoo.com/ and join our groups at http://beta.razoo.com/groups/shi and http://beta.razoo.com/groups/sw. Then make sure to tell everyone you know how to join each of these groups!

And don't forget to mention that you are joining because you heard about it right here :)

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Bid with your lid for SHI

We got exciting news from one of our planting partners, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) - they have been selected to benefit from Stonyfield Farm’s ‘Bid With Your Lid’ program!

I am sure you all know Stonyfield Farm and their great organic dairy products, including their very tasty yogurts. The company, through its Profits for the Planet program, donates 10% of their profits to efforts that help protect and restore the earth.

Their annual 'Bid with Your Lid' program gives each one of us a chance to help direct a portion of these donations. They will give a total of $100,000 to three organizations that help the earth. Each organization will receive $20,000 plus a percentage of $40,000, based on your voting.

SHI is one of these 3 organizations, and we call everyone to cast their vote for SHI. You can do it online or by mail and receive great prizes on the way, like chocolate, tea, tote bags and of course yogurt!

We are very proud that one of our planting partners is participating in this program, and we send our greetings to Florence Reed, SHI founder, and all the people at SHI. They'll sure get our vote and hopefully yours as well. Voting begins July 1, 2007 and ends October 15, 2007.

Here's the link to receive more details on the program and how to vote and receive prizes: http://www.stonyfield.com/SpecialOffers/bidwithyourlid/index.cfm

and here's a link to SHI website, where you can learn more about it: http://www.sustainableharvest.org/

Raz