We recently heard from our friend Helmut from Finca El Origen in Colombia. As we mentioned when we first introduced you to his farm , Helmut is involved in a non-profit tree planting project to combat the effects of deforestation and climate change in his community. This tree planting and environmental education project in schools and local communities is now in its 11th month of a planned 18 month duration. Together with Bachaqueros, a non-governmental organization, Helmut has contributed to the seeding of 80,000 trees and the planting of 30,000 trees so far. Bachaqueros led 20 workshops in 4 different regions. These workshops allowed residents of these communities to learn how to identify local endangered tree species, collect seeds and how to plant trees so that they have the best possible chance of growing.

During the next dry season, the group will start to geotag all the planted trees so that they can better protect them during the next two summers, which Helmut says will be a crucial period in the growth of newly planted trees. Helmut was very happy to tell us that the group managed to convince the Colombian army to plant 3000 trees in their coastal military areas and that Bachaqueros is doing a lot of work with schools so that children can participate in the cultivation of trees and eventually at their planting. We are proud to be able to share this news with you and look forward to telling you about the progress of this initiative over the coming months.

Beyond the trees that are planted by Helmut, we have also been working for more than a year, in partnership with the non-profit organization One Tree Planted, to have one tree planted for each subscription that we send out. One Tree Planted works on local reforestation projects all over the world and we have chosen to focus our efforts in the Amazon rainforest. In 2019, it suffered a record level of deforestation due to forest fires which caused a lot of damage. One Tree Planted is currently working on a project to plant trees and agricultural crops such as cocoa in Peru.

Here is an excellent video illustrating this project.

Follow our progress in real time

We will continue to update you on Helmut's project as we receive it. In the meantime, you can follow our own efforts here.