Interview with Founder

Some probing questions for Dave D., founder of the 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that plants the trees for SEED OUR FUTURE.

Q: What mechanism is in place to ensure every tree purchased is planted?
A: We are developing a verification and evaluation system around the world which changes somewhat from one country to the next but all have these key factors:

Each project location is recorded by its GPS coordinates, which allows investors to see the village on Google Earth. Additionally, the field technician photographs the work in progress with his own description of the reasons for the project and factors such as livability of seedlings, average growth, problems encountered and how they were addressed, and so forth. So each project has its own, continuing, report.

Program coordinators also provide monthly updates including project reports which are written by our technicians, with the community leaders and with representatives of the concerned agencies of local government.  All of this is verified (or challenged) by the participating families.

In many of the countries where we have major programs, we’re convincing the concerned national agencies to perform on-site evaluations to show how many seedlings were planted and survived, how they are meeting the needs of the community, and their recommendations for how the program could be improved – we believe this last is especially important for countries that signed the Kyoto treaty (which is all of the countries where we work).

Q: What company/how many individuals will be planting trees in each of the 7 locations you’ve selected?
A: We are at work in 28 developing countries of Asia, Africa and the Americas. On the average, we probably have at least 6 locations in each country. More than half of these would be suitable, we think, for your program and that gives you a lot of flex and keeps the planting going year-around.

All of these are community-based reforestation/ afforestation programs and, on the average, such a project has perhaps 1,300 participating families, in addition to maybe 20 community leaders we have trained and we have one of our staff technicians working full time with about 5 such communities. In other words, planting trees takes a LOT of people.

Q: How many acres of land have you designated in each country you’ve selected?
A: We don’t designate or have targets. People contact us and tell us they have needs and we respond. Were we to have the types of funding you describe, that would still be our M.O. but experience shows that a typical projector site would be more spread out and assisting many more communities.

Land tenure, always a major concern, varies greatly from one country to the next. Suffice to say we seldom plant trees on public lands. We assist communities that either own the land or are confident they have long-term tenure on it. For example, this past month I’ve been with the Aetas of the northern Philippines who have an ancestral domain of about 10,200 acres. With that is nearby public lands which are being distributed to bona-fide cooperatives with a 25 year lease agreement that will be renewed providing they live up to the agreement.

Q: How many trees can you plant in a single day?
A: Based on 2008 results, on the average, worldwide we planted about 42,500 trees per day. Our biggest limitation was funding – we’re finding the people.

Q: What types of trees are being planted?
A: We plant a wide range of trees, believing that sustainability is all-important and diversity is the way to make projects sustainable. On hand here, we have planting materials for about 30 species, mostly MPFG (multi-purpose, Fast-growing) species. They start things off and we add trees for fruit, nuts, timber, renewable energy, sustainable/organic food and for other purposes.

Q: At what point in maturity (seed, sapling, etc) are the trees being planted?
A: As far as possible, nurseries are very close to the areas to be planted. There are a lot or factors that determine location. The nurseries and the trees belong to the people of the communities we serve. Social considerations are extremely important and we might say whenever possible we encourage each family to develop its own seedling nursery.

Q: You had mentioned saplings were being planted- where is the nursery/who is in charge of overseeing the process in each country?
A: In some places we have major seedling nurseries and our own technicians oversee these. Most times it is the village leadership, with technology provided by our technicians, that oversee operations.  Most of the time, we start with seeds in nurseries, then transplant as the rainy season comes on. Some types of trees, especially grafted fruit and some exotic timber species, we start with seedlings.

Q: If a corporate sponsor authorized a large purchase- how would you handle the order?  Could you plant 100,000 trees in one location right away?
A: We could plant 100,000 trees in several locations

Q: How often are trees being planted?
A: Most of the tropics have four (4) seasons, we start seedling nurseries in the warm-dry season and transplant in the warm-wet season. In the northern hemisphere that means starting nurseries in Feb-Apr. and transplanting June-July. In the southern hemisphere, it’s just the opposite. In some parts of the world (example – Haiti) there is a 2-sail rainy season so you get two shots at it in a typical year.

I say all this with tongue in cheek because CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY UPON US AND SEASONS ARE CHANGING, especially in the tropics. We have needed to change our tactics a bit but are still able to get good trees growing fast.

Q: Is your company the only company having trees planted in each location?
A: Our success is due to the fact that we partner around the world with local organizations – more than 250 of them now and the number fast increasing. From the USD/European side, there is virtually no competition/ or collaboration but globally there are some great groups and that’s the only reason we’re able to keep this program growing.

Q: Is it possible for you to “run out of room” in these seven countries?
A: No way – the world loses about 250,000 acres of its forests every day and only about 10% of that is being replaced.

Q: For every tree sold, what are the out-of-pocket costs associated with planting them?
A: We’re a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization so there essentially is no profit but you divide our budget by numbers of trees planted, surviving, growing and benefiting people and, year after year.   There are about 40 cost factors and they vary all over the place.

Q: How can news crews go to these areas and get footage of the efforts being made?
A: We can get news crews to these places and our local people can help them get the video they want, including translations. In fact, we can save you some money and get qualified local crews.

As I think Gorav explained, there is this matter or branding and experience has shown us we need to have presentations that tell people the trees are being planted by us.

There are a lot of steps, which the staff commented on earlier this afternoon. Step one is to get the money!

It involves meeting people in their own communities, learning their needs and hopes, their capabilities and limitations, and what will best help them and the land. Then it’s making sure they have all the needed inputs plus step-by step training. It’s an educational process that keeps getting more intense, we find. Then our technicians work with their leaders, explaining all the steps and the project moves forward. The concept includes much more than trees and continues to grow over following years. There is also continuing monitoring and evaluation, seeing mistakes and new problems and finding answers. They we get the project moving into nearby communities because the overall beneficial effect becomes greater as more of the problem area are restored.

I must say these are some excellent and very tough, questions and I hope I’ve answered them to your satisfaction