TMA pays farmers to plant trees on their own deforested land. This is what drives the Community Reforestation Program, plain and simple. Without a strong and immediate financial incentive for forest restoration, it will not happen in places like Ecuador.

This is a textbook example of how the mechanism known as “Payments for Ecosystem Services” (PES) is absolutely crucial for forest restoration at a large scale. It is the difference between triggering reforestation or accepting permanently deforested land.  

The Economics of Ecological Restoration

Farmers use their land in accordance with whatever activity generates the most income. This is how farming works in pretty much every country in the world. It equally applies to Ecuador. People go where the money is.

We’ve witnessed many failed reforestation initiatives in Ecuador for exactly this reason. The economic rewards of reforestation did not exceed the economic rewards of deforestation. Economics 101.

TMA’s Community Reforestation Program is built to address this simple yet intractable fact of life. We pay farmers $1,821 per acre ($4,500/hectare) over a 5-year period to convert their deforested land into a regenerative forest that 1) produces food and income for their family, 2) restores habitat for wildlife, and 3) removes CO2 from the atmosphere.

This payment immediately increases farmers’ earnings by 44% relative to slash-and-burn corn cultivation and over 300% relative to cattle ranching, which are the two dominant agricultural activities in this region. This is enough to convince farmers to shift their activities away from degenerative agriculture and toward regenerative agroforestry. 

However, the payments only last for five years. It is a short-term measure designed to bridge the gap until farmers begin to generate an independent revenue stream through the sale of cacao, banana, and other tree crops produced in their regenerative agroforestry parcels. 

ROI for People and the Planet

It bears mentioning that these are payments, not loans. And they are certainly not handouts. Technically, they are what the industry refers to as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). Farmers are paid for the ecosystem services they provide to humanity—in this case, by planting and maintaining trees that remove CO2 from the atmosphere. 

The payments start high and slowly taper down—in line with the gradual increase of earnings from their tree crops. This is why regenerative agroforestry is a win-win solution: it restores the forest and generates a long-term income stream for farmers.

It also avoids creating a culture of dependence. The 5-year PES payments are more akin to seed funding for a profitable yet regenerative method of farming that uses a diversity of CO2-absorbing trees rather than a monoculture of annual crops. 

Payments are electronically transferred to each farmer’s bank account on a monthly basis throughout the 5-year start-up period, beginning the month that the trees are first planted into the ground. Below is the official payment schedule.

Sustainable Revenue for the Long Term

Meanwhile, the agroforestry crops begin producing an independent revenue stream for the farmer. Banana and plantain start generating income as early as year 2. The most important long-term source of revenue is the heirloom cacao trees, which produce their first crop in years 4 and 5, and then reach full productivity starting at about year 6. Cacao trees can remain productive for many decades, often producing revenue for the same family over several generations. Likewise, the native shade trees—which do the lion’s share of carbon storage—will outlive the people that plant them.

Out-Competing Opportunity Costs

Pragmatically speaking, the name of the game is to economically out-compete alternative land uses. If earnings from forest restoration exceed the opportunity costs, forest restoration will become the path of least resistance to the majority of farmers.

The Community Reforestation Program achieves this goal. During years 1-5, the PES payments exceed annual earnings from the most common alternative land uses—most importantly, cattle ranching and corn cultivation. From year 6 onward, earnings from crop sales exceed earnings from alternative land uses. Forest restoration wins.

How is This Program Funded?

TMA uses the “direct sponsorship” model of carbon offsets for its Community Reforestation Program. The net carbon benefit is 78 tons of CO2 per acre (192 tons of CO2/hectare) over the 3o-year project life. Individuals, businesses, and other institutions directly sponsor a specific family (or families) to reforest specific parcels of land. We monitor and verify every single reforestation parcel using a combination of site visits, digital monitoring technology, satellite imagery, and aerial photography from drones.

All of the above is shared directly with each sponsor. This way, sponsors can literally watch the forest grow over time. We also share parcel-by-parcel performance metrics and cost structure. Our commitment to sponsors and to the general public is absolute transparency.

Ready to Become A Sponsor?

Sponsor reforestation with a local farmer today to help reverse deforestation and build a more sustainable model for future generations. 

Learn More

To learn more about how our Community Reforestation Program works, check out our 2-minute animated video below.

The post Why Paying Farmers for Reforestation is a Game-Changer appeared first on TMA.

1. It allows us to measure performance. Payments to farmers are based on the survival and growth rates of the trees they plant.
2. It allows our sponsors to verify the legitimacy of this project and also to follow its progress over time. Our commitment to reforestation sponsors is absolute transparency. We also believe that re-growing a forest is an endeavor worth watching, and we want to bring people along for the ride.

The GIF below is a real-life example of our work. The parcels to the left and toward the bottom of this image were cattle pastures up until 2013, at which time we started planting over 10,000 trees. The GIF covers the six-year period from 2013 to 2018. This is just a taste of what people plus Mother Nature can do. It’s also a good example of how aerial imagery can be used to monitor and verify results.

Cattle pasture converted to forest adjacent to the Jama-Coaque Reserve over a six-year period: 2013 – 2018.

The Four Monitoring Methods

We monitor every single reforestation parcel three times per year using four overlapping methods, to ensure that nothing goes unnoticed.

1. Boots on the Ground: First and foremost, we are physically present during the actual planting of the trees—indeed, we do a fair amount of the planting ourselves. Once all the trees are in the ground, we manually tabulate every single tree that is planted and add this to our database.
2. Digital Tracking: We also use a new digital technology platform called FARM-TRACE to measure and verify our reforestation impact and performance. Here’s how it works: FARM-TRACE independently creates sample plots within each of the reforestation parcels. Our field team visits these plots and enters the diameter and height of every tree in the sample plots into FARM-TRACE’s smartphone application. FARM-TRACE uses this data and runs a series of algorithms to assess how many trees and how much carbon is being stored across the entire parcel. In addition, FARM-TRACE uses a machine-learning algorithm to “truth” this information from satellite imagery. The results are relayed to the program’s desktop interface on our computer in real-time. Reforestation has entered the 21st century!
3. Remote Sensing: Separately, we capture and analyze high-resolution satellite images from another service provider at the end of every year and store these images in our archive. We do this for every single parcel.
4. Drone Fly-Overs: Last but not least, at the end of every year we take aerial photographs of each parcel using a drone. Again, we analyze and archive these images for every single parcel. We also share these images with the people who sponsored the reforestation of that particular parcel. This is how sponsors can literally watch these forests grow over time.

How We Do It

To learn more about how our Community Reforestation Program works, check out our 2-minute animated video below.

The post How We Monitor and Verify Forest Restoration appeared first on TMA.

Farmers use their land in accordance with whatever generates the most income. This is the basis for an innovative ecological restoration strategy known as “Payments for Ecosystem Services” (PES). Think of it as an economic solution to an ecological problem. Here’s how we’re applying this model in Ecuador, and why we believe it’s the wave of the future.

What does “Payments for Ecosystem Services” (PES) mean?

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are financial incentives offered to landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide some sort of ecological service—for example, planting trees that remove carbon from the atmosphere. That’s the most common example.

Another example is paying landowners to preserve forest at the headwaters of a river that provides drinking water to a large city downstream. In this case, the people downstream quantify the value of a clean and consistent water source, and then pay the people upstream to manage their land accordingly.

PES Projects Around the World

PES projects were pioneered by Costa Rica in the 1990s. Since then, they’ve become increasingly popular in the realm of conservation and reforestation. Technically, most carbon offset projects are also PES projects.

The world’s largest landscape restoration project is a PES program implemented by China, nicknamed “Grain for Green”. Cash incentives to 32 million households have triggered the restoration of over 28 million hectares over two decades.

In the US, there are numerous ongoing PES programs aimed at watershed protection—ranging from Florida and San Antonio to Vermont and Oregon. Germany and the U.K. host a number of PES programs aimed at climate change mitigation and watershed protection. In countries like Mexico and Vietnam, PES programs are also used for biodiversity protection.

How does PES work?

Think of PES as an economic solution to an ecological problem. When applied properly, the PES model has a proven track record in shifting land-use patterns. But there are a few factors that determine the success or failure of a project that employs this model.

For PES payments to be effective, the payment levels have to exceed the opportunity costs of alternative activities. If not, farmers will choose to continue business-as-usual. This seems obvious, but this is where some PES projects fail.

For the project to generate legitimate carbon benefits, it must also satisfy two key criteria: additionality (i.e., without the payments, the trees would probably not have been planted) and permanence (i.e., the trees will remain alive and well for many decades, faithfully storing carbon in their wood).

Last but not least, it is our opinion that a PES project is truly successful if it also protects or restores biodiversity and improves the livelihoods of people. Our Community Reforestation Program is carefully designed to check all of these boxes.

PES in Ecuador

TMA’s Community Reforestation Program is a PES project. TMA pays farmers $1,821 per acre over a 5-year period to reforest their own degraded land. This equates to $4,500 per hectare. The most quantifiable benefit of this service is the net removal of 78 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, over a period of 30 years, for each acre that is reforested. In terms of hectares, net carbon removal is 191 tons of CO2.

But that it’s only one benefit. Just as important, but harder to quantify, are benefits like habitat restoration for endangered species, significantly reducing extraction pressure on the most threatened rainforest on earth, watershed protection, erosion control, and regional water cycle sustenance. In terms of socioeconomic benefits, this project increases farmers’ earnings by 300% per acre. On average, earnings from this project account for over half of the farmers’ total annual income.

How We Do It

To learn more about how our Community Reforestation Program works, check out our 2-minute animated video below.

The post What Is “Payments for Ecosystem Services” (PES)? appeared first on TMA.

People often ask how much it costs to plant a tree for reforestation. Many reforestation projects even market their services based on a tree-planting price, which is often suspiciously low. In our estimation, the actual planting of a tree represents maybe 2% of the overall work required to raise a tree to maturity. So the real question is: how much does it cost to raise a tree to maturity? 

Sections

• All of the Steps Required to Raise a Tree to Maturity
• Buyer Beware of Cheap Reforestation Projects
• How Much it Costs to Raise Each Tree to Maturity

All of the Steps Required to Raise a Tree to Maturity

Before we answer the question of cost, let’s first take a look at all the activities that are needed for a tree to reach maturity, particularly in the ultra-competitive realm of tropical vegetation. Here’s the list:

1. A seed must be sourced. This is not as easy as it sounds. Some seeds are only produced during a narrow window of time each year. 
2. The seed must be germinated in a plant nursery. Again, this is not as easy as it sounds. Some seeds germinate easily, other seeds do not. 
3. Once the seed germinates, its water and sun intake needs to be carefully regulated for many months. 
4. The site where the seedling will be planted first needs to be prepared.
5. When the seedling is ready for planting, it must be transported to the site. Oftentimes, planting sites are not close to roads. This means that people or animals must haul heavy crates full of seedlings on their shoulders over rough terrain for long distances. 
6. Now comes the big moment of planting—which is just one relatively simple step in a very long list of necessary actions. 
7. The first year is always the most critical. The seedling will need to be weeded—usually by hand—every 1-2 months. 
8. Depending on the drought tolerance of the particular species at hand, it may need to be watered at least once a month during the dry season, if not more. 
9. And this may require building an irrigation system.
10. During the second year, the seedling will require nearly as much attention as it did the first year.
11. By the third year, we can start calling it a sapling. It still requires some form of attention every 1-3 months—again, depending on how hardy the species is.  
12. By the fourth or fifth year, especially if it’s a relatively fast-growing species, the young tree may be taller than most of the weeds that would have otherwise out-competed it when the tree was smaller. But it will still need to be weeded a few times a year.
13. And it will still benefit from irrigation.
14. At some point, especially if it is a fruit tree, it may require pruning. 
15. It also may require some form of integrated pest management.
16. And then, hopefully, it will begin to bear fruit.

Buyer Beware of Cheap Reforestation Projects

There are some reforestation projects that claim to plant trees at a cost of $1 per tree or less. If this is the case, it probably means that people are putting trees into the ground and then forgetting about it. If you plant a tree in the tropics, and then forget about it, its chances of survival are extremely low—in most cases, probably lower than 5%. It will quickly be out-competed by undergrowth (i.e., “weeds”) that have evolved to grow extremely rapidly in a very short period of time.

Even if the seedling survives for a while, hidden in a tangle of undergrowth, it will never grow to maturity—which defeats the original purpose of planting the tree. After a seedling is planted, it requires after-care and monitoring until it’s tall and strong enough to fend for itself. Otherwise, the act of planting it will be a wasted effort.

There also needs to be some form of monitoring or verification. If not, there is no way to assess survival and growth rates. Nor are there any useful data points from which to draw when it comes time to either replicate the project or adjust methodologies or selection of tree species. It is akin to planting trees in the dark, wishing for the best, and failing to learn from the results.

How Much it Costs to Raise Each Tree to Maturity

Our Community Reforestation Program costs $3,025, over a five-year period, to plant and raise over 300 trees in one acre of land. If we divide the overall cost by the total number of trees, it comes out to about $10 per tree. Our overall survival rates typically exceed 90%, which includes a policy of replacing all trees that don’t survive the first five years.

Our reforestation program is aimed at quality, survival, and long-term success. We also guarantee absolute transparency in our process, verify all results, and openly share the findings with the public. When someone sponsors a reforestation parcel, we provide them with performance metrics, cost breakdown, and aerial imagery of that exact parcel every single year. So sponsors can literally watch this forest grow over time. 

For a closer look at how each reforestation dollar is spent, check out Cost Structure of TMA’s Community Reforestation Program.

How We Do It

To learn more about how our Community Reforestation Program works, watch our 2-minute animated video below.

The post How Much It Costs to Plant a Tree in the Tropics appeared first on TMA.

The remaining 40% is invested in seedlings & equipment (13%), training & technical assistance (10%), and monitoring & remote sensing technology (17%). The latter allows us to measure performance and verify results as efficiently as possible.

Detailed Cost Breakdown

How We Do It

To learn more about how our Community Reforestation Program works, check out our 2-minute animated video below.

The post Cost Structure of TMA’s Community Reforestation Program appeared first on TMA.

Conventional reforestation often pits the needs of nature against the needs of people. Regenerative Agroforestry integrates the two. It combines the ecological benefits of reforestation with the socio-economic benefits of regenerative agriculture. It can be a win-win solution for people and the planet…if applied properly.

What is Regenerative Agroforestry? 

Regenerative agroforestry is an agricultural method that mimics natural forest ecosystems. It’s a forest restoration method that employs a diversity of trees that also produce food and income for people.

There are many variations of this model. Some versions also incorporate livestock and annual crops. The model of regenerative agroforestry that TMA uses for its Community Reforestation Program combines native shade trees, fruit trees, heirloom cacao trees, and banana and plantain crops—all interplanted in the same parcel of land. Like a forest. 

What is Conventional Reforestation?

In the strictest definition, conventional reforestation is the act of converting degraded land back into a forest that resembles its native vegetation. When this is done on uninhabited land that nobody depends on for food or income, this is usually a good idea.

But if the land is inhabited, or people do actively depend on it for food and income, conventional reforestation can be problematic. It pits the needs of nature against the needs of people. This is a conflict that usually doesn’t end well—for one side or the other. It is a zero-sum approach to ecological restoration.

Which is Better?

The choice between regenerative agroforestry and conventional reforestation is entirely determined by the context. More often than not, regenerative agroforestry is the superior option. This merely reflects the reality of the world we live in, which is currently occupied by about 8 billion humans struggling for an ever-shrinking piece of the pie. 

In a world of scarce resources, zero-sum approaches are usually not the answer. This is particularly relevant in the rural tropics, which is one of the key battlegrounds in the fight against deforestation, global climate change, and global poverty—all of which are closely interconnected. 

It is estimated that 80% of tropical deforestation is caused by cattle ranching and agriculture worldwide. In Latin America, this number rises to 95%. The main reason that people are cutting down forests is to grow food and earn an income. That is the primary driver of tropical deforestation and one of the primary causes of global climate change. It’s also an inefficient use of resources. Often, it’s not even a good source of income. In other words, a lose-lose scenario. 

Preventing a large swath of the global population from trying to grow food and earn an income is not a viable solution. A better approach is to integrate forest restoration with food and income benefits for people. That’s what regenerative agroforestry is built for. It eliminates the zero-sum game. 

At this juncture of human development, regenerative agroforestry is the best solution available for balancing the needs of people and the planet.

How We Do It

To learn more about how our Community Reforestation Program works, check out our 2-minute animated video below. It’s a project to replace deforestation with regenerative cacao. 

Help a local farmer transition to Regenerative Agroforestry today!

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