RTT Board and Volunteers

New board members Dr. Michael Bresnan (second from right) and Don Droppo (not in picture)

Board members from left to right:

Lauren Hintlian, (Co-director & Secretary), Harry Hintlian, Bob Sussler, Herster Barres, (Director), David Anderson, Treasurer,   Michael Bresnan, Scott Keller RTT (volunteer)

Photo of board members and volunteers at the November 2009 meeting of the Board of Directors of Reforest the Tropics, Inc.

]]> http://reforestthetropics.org/2009/11/22/meeting-of-the-board-of-directors-november-2009/feed/ 0 . . . BoardMeeting2009 http://reforestthetropics.org/2008/10/04/rtt-forester-ing-rolando-camacho/ http://reforestthetropics.org/2008/10/04/rtt-forester-ing-rolando-camacho/#comments Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:26:44 +0000 . . . http://reforestthetropics.wordpress.com/?p=272 ]]>

Mr. Rolando Camacho is a talented, hardworking Costa Rican that watches over the RTT carbon-offset forests. This picture, taken in the forest established for Marco & Dorla Barres of Jewitt City, Connecticut, shows a 3-year old planting of Klinkii trees. The forest, designed to offset 25 tonnes of CO2 annually in a 25-year contract, is on the outskirts of the town of Turrialba. Also in this forest are Mahogany trees. The farm is owned by CATIE (Center for Higher Education & Agricultural Research), a cooperator with three RTT projects. The forest manager is Marvin Hernandez. 12Jun08

Attendees, including board members and guests, are shown in the photo above.

The Connecticut Sun play basketball at the Mohegan Sun Arena, which is located at the Mohegan Sun Casino.  The owners of the casino, the Mohegan Tribe, are committed to sustainable growth and environmental consciousness.  Recently, the Mohegan Tribe partnered with Reforest the Tropics to plant a carbon-offset forest in Costa Rica.  The forest offsets carbon dioxide emitted from fuel cells that generate green electricity for the casino.  More information about the Mohegan Tribe’s innovative fuel cells is here [PDF].  More information about the Mohegan Tribe Forest, managed by RTT, is here.

In the picture below, the President of RTT, Dr. Herster Barres, receives the Community MVP award from a Connecticut Sun player.

Reforest The Tropics is a Mystic, CT-based, volunteer-managed, non-profit organization developing a model for offsetting US CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through tropical farm reforestation projects. This program was approved in 1995 by the US and Costa Rican governments, and is sanctioned by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Our funding comes exclusively from emitter donations.

In this applied research program US emitters sponsor reforestation projects to help us learn how to efficiently offset US CO2 emissions in the tropics. Fifty-nine US emitters have sponsored over 280 acres of new forests in 29 projects in Costa Rica. Among these are forests for the Superior Nut Co., the Mohegan Indian Casino, Connecticut College, CT Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, Pfizer Foundation & The Groton, CT School System, other businesses, social clubs and individuals.

Work on this program began back in the ’60s under the auspices of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) by the present RTT director, Dr. Herster Barres. Our mixed-species forests are specially and uniquely designed to achieve two major goals, (1) efficient, low-cost, long-term and verifiable carbon sequestration in sustainable forests for US sponsors, and (2) to generate an income flow for participating farmers from sales of the periodic thinnings necessary to keep the forests, sustainable, healthy and fast-growing. Forests also produce habitat and food for wildlife and clean water for downstream towns. Some of our research forests are 40 years old. Our oldest formal carbon-offset forests are 9 years old; they are very promising.

In the US, we work with emitter CO2 emission baseline inventories, fund raising, sponsor relations, teaching and model development. With our forester in Costa Rica, we work in the fields of tropical silviculture, forest establishment and management, research, thinnings, GPS mapping, long-term 25-year contracts and farmer relations. We also have cooperative research agreements with local Costa Rican R&D institutions (CATIE & UNA) to develop certain technical areas or information related to our goals.

There are millions of acres of pastures in the tropics available for reforestation, carbon sequestration and profitable wood production if the projects appropriately benefit US emitters with efficient sequestration and provide participating farmers with income from sustainable forests. Showing that this can be done is our goal.

We seek to expand the use of the RTT Advanced Model of carbon-offset forests through the use of more demonstration projects involving different sectors of US society. Examples of potential pilot projects yet to be organized are: offsetting the carbon emissions of 100 combination trucks or fleet of school buses, of a restaurant, establishing carbon-offset forests for new-borne babies or as a wedding gift, working with municipalities, and offering a carbon-offset forest as an option for new car buyers. Each of our projects illustrates the use of specialized forests in the tropics in managing a specific source of US CO2 emissions.

Help us continue the development of this model with your talents, energy, enthusiasm and experience. Training is available and essential. Under the direction of the Director, your volunteer duties will include participation in all of the above mentioned activities and eventually in the overall management of the program. Spanish language and experience in fund-raising, forestry and Latin America will be considered positive contributions. Contact: hbarres@aol and visit our web site: reforestthetropics.org.

THE RTT ECO CAR: 2 ½ TONNES OF ANNUAL CO2 EMISSIONS, OFFSET IN A FOREST FOR THE LIFETIME OF THE CAR

This Honda Insight is managed by Reforest The Tropics as an example of a totally clean car. With a donation of $500 to RTT, its emissions can be offset in a new forest on a farm in Costa Rica for the lifetime of the car.