Did you know that a round-trip flight from New York, NY to San Jose, Costa Rica produces an estimated ton of CO2 per passenger? And that it takes one healthy, tropical tree a maximum of 40 years (or 40 trees one year) to offset that single trip? Truly, “the best time to plant a tree was [40] years ago, and the second-best time is today.”

Forests are the lungs of our planet. They breathe for everyone. And yet, humans have been clear-cutting trees faster and more recklessly than ever before. And many of us are traveling faster, farther, and more frequently too; producing alarming levels of carbon dioxide each year that threaten the balance of life on Earth. At this moment in time, it is on us as individuals to act from a place of responsibility and accountability to the rest of the beings that share our beautiful planet.

As forest farmers, we can help. We work with the natural cycles of the jungle to grow nutritious food crops under the protective, shady canopy of tropical trees. We plant and nurture trees just like our other crops - they just take longer to grow! After about 25 years, some of our trees are selectively harvested for sustainable lumber, and carry their sequestered carbon with them in the form of wood. Most trees are left behind to compose what will, eventually, return to pristine rainforest. It takes hundreds of years for a stand of trees to become a true forest, but with your help, we can plant and nurture saplings into giants that provide food, shade, and shelter for a vast array of jungle creatures, and sequester tons of carbon from our atmosphere.