GROWING FORESTS
Making Travel Planet & People Positive
663
Total Trees Planted
108,798 kg
Total CO2 Removed
West World Tours has planted 2 TREES to help compensate some of the CO2e emissions produced by your trip. Trees are one of the most powerful absorbers of carbon emissions – by growing trees in developing countries as we travel, we can help to restore eco-systems, biodiversity and support local communities through the dignity of employment.
We invite you to sign up with Trees4Travel to calculate the rest of your journey. Translate your trips to trees & make all your travel planet and people positive. For every tree you plant we will plant an extra tree!
Reforestation will help reverse climate change, but trees can be fragile and take time to grow, so to ensure a traveller’s carbon emissions are removed as soon as possible, Trees4Travel always assigns each tree with a share of an investment into a United Nations Certified Emissions Reduction renewable energy program, essentially doubling their promise.
Haiti Reforestation Updates
APRIL 2023
OCTOBER 2022
This reforestation site is a shared site, where many companies and individuals contribute to help restore the land and forests. From October 2021 to September 2022, through this support, the locals where able to plant 565,683 trees, which employed an average of 23 employees per month and created a total of 7,813 working days. With a steady income, the local employees can put savings aside, invest in their households, start micro-enterprises to diversify their income opportunities, and provide healthcare and everyday needs for their families. Additional significant socio-economic impacts include improved diets and health due to purchasing nutritious food and increasing education as families can afford to send their children to school.
JUNE 2022
La Vallée is a massive terrestrial reforestation site. This site is located at an altitude of 800 meters near the town of Jacmel. The community of La Vallée de Jacmel has a population of approximately 33,217 inhabitants. The population relies on agriculture, growing legumes, grains, and fruit, especially different citrus varieties, for income. It was once famous for its sweet potato production. According to reported stories, this city was once a coffee-producing basin with lush forest cover. The terrestrial reforestation program aims to reforest the area to enhance the bare land, restore its landscape, and make it more resilient. This project will contribute to increased plant coverage of the site, a higher frequency of precipitation, and improved plant species diversity.
MARCH 2022
As you can see these saplings are well on their way to becoming strong, beautiful trees and in the near future this site will start to become a thriving forest again. By working together in the fight against climate change we are truly building a more sustainable and equitable world. This reforestation project has so many essential co-benefits such as helping to improve the communities economic situation, improving soil strength, which in turn will help water quality and restoring ecosystems. Let's keep up the great work for people and planet!
NOVEMBER 2021
The plantation managers organise and collaborate with local farmers to plant agroforestry species within the reforestation areas. They arrange the training of field staff, developing training materials, and expanding agroforestry seedling distribution to all local farmers. Agroforestry can improve the resiliency of agricultural systems and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
AUGUST 2021
Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees are grown around or among crops or pastureland. This diversification of the farming system initiates an agroecological succession, like that in natural ecosystems, and so starts a chain of events that enhance the functionality and sustainability of the farming system. Trees also produce a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits/nuts, medicines, wood products, etc. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has multiple benefits, such as greatly enhanced yields from staple food crops, enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure and health, reduced erosion, and carbon absorption.
More About Haiti - Caribbean
with an additional 25% in extreme poverty.
LOCATION of REFORESTATION - Site Name: La Vallee DP, Haiti - GPS: 18°15’11.33”N, 72°39’45.10”W
The Importance of Reforestation
Haiti is one of the most environmentally degraded countries on earth. With 99% of its forests already gone, the United Nation estimates that 30% of Haiti’s remaining trees are destroyed each year. Charcoal production is a major cause of the continued deforestation of Haiti. This deforestation magnifies the effects of hurricanes and contributes to soil degradation, leaving the community with diminished natural resources.
Years of ecological devastation in Haiti have led to varying levels of crop failure, flooding, soil erosion, and water table depletion. To combat these effects, our partners work directly with community leaders to plant, protect and guard native trees to maturity. In doing so, hoping to help restore the natural environment and also implement agroforestry techniques to aid in food security.
The Planting Seasons & Methods
The team is utilizing a variety of planting methods including Bare Root, Cutting, Direct Seeding and Seedling Nursery.
The planting seasons:
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Bare root: April-June & August-November
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Direct seeding: April-June & August-November
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Nursery: April-June & August-November
The team has primarily used bare root methods and also focus on germinating seeds in the nursery.
Bare Root: At the onset of the rainy season, wild seedlings are harvested from healthy or remnant forests, which typically see a large influx of small seedling growth beneath the canopy. Bare root (wild) involves the gentle collection of these seedlings and quickly replanting them at an adjacent deforested area. Transferring the seedlings does not harm the healthy forest, as overcrowding and excessive shade from the canopy means only a tiny percentage of the seedlings would have survived. This planting method strategically leverages nature’s abundance.
During dry seasons the team collect native seeds & prepare them in the nurseries.
Traditional seedling is the process of germinating seeds in the nursery, temporarily moving them to a bag or pot until they reach maturity. When the rainy season begins the saplings are then planted in the fields - in just a few years a sustainable forest emerges.
A Few of the Tree Species being Planted
Gliricidia Sepium
The species Gliricidia sepium is cultivated and used for a variety of purposes in tropical regions. The flowers of Gliricidia are edible when cooked. The whole plant is a folk remedy for various conditions such as but not limited to colds, cough, fever, headache, bruises, burns, rheumatism, ulcers, and wounds. It can also be used as a rodenticide and general pesticide.
Leucaena Leucocephala
Young leaves, pods, and flower buds are edible and usually eaten raw, steamed or mixed in soups or with rice. The seeds can also be eaten either raw or cooked, or dried then used as coffee substitute. The plant also yields edible gum used in sauces. Roasted seeds can even be used to moisturize skin. The wood is often used for its fiber, mainly to make paper.
Delonix Regia
Besides its ornamental value, it is also a useful shade tree in tropical conditions, because it usually grows to a modest height (mostly 5 m or 15 ft, but it can reach a maximum height of 12 m or 40 ft) spreads widely and its dense foliage provides full shade. In areas with a marked dry season, it sheds its leaves during the drought, but in other areas it is virtually evergreen.
Our planting partner for this reforestation program is Eden Reforestation Projects. Photos have been provided by our partner.