REFOREST THE TREES PROJECT with Westerly Middle School

One of our Club's major projects for the 2012/2013 year was to work with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, located in Mystic, CT - Reforest the Trees  - founded by Dr. Herster Barres.  The organization's mission is "to make a tangible contribution to global sustainability through environmental education and applied research on carbon-offset farm forests in the tropics."  It is an "applied research organization working to mitigate global warming through sustainable forestry and long-term, verifiable carbon sequestration" with actual tree farms - reforested tropical pastures growing tree species that grow quickly to produce valuable lumber, enabling profitability to the farmers maintaining them, in Costa Rica.  Over the past decade, RTT has managed 317 acres of carbon-offset forests on 9 farms in Costa Rica with donations from US sponsors.  Go to www.reforestthetropics.org for more information.

Our project was to provide initial funding for a three-year education program involving the Westerly Middle School students. RTT's educational program is "designed to educate students about the effects of carbon emissions on global warming and the environment in general."  The students will learn how to measure carbon emissions and how the emissions can be offset by encouraging the growth of forests AND the school will have a tree farm in Costa Rica named after it With the approval of Westerly Superintendent Seitsinger and WMS Principal Fusco, the program is in progress.  In recent email updates from Dr. Herster and the Club's RTT Project Chair, Dr. Dan Alvino, we were told that RTT has had several meetings with the WMS staff and Desiree Derix, Science Department Head, will soon be traveling to Costa Rica for training in the forest.  A recent visit by Dr. Herster to WMS provided Ms. Derix with the scientific background of the UNFCCC (United Nations Climate Change Convention) program in Costa Rica.  On Friday, 15 February, they plan to meet again to coordinate teaching activities.

Dr. Herster also mentioned that Walmart has contributed $4,000 toward the project which will eventually cost $20,000 to completion.  Our Club has committed $4000 also to the project with a portion of that coming from a Rotary District Simplified Grant.

 We received an update from Dr. Barres and Ms. Derix on 1 April.  Westerly Middle School Science teacher Ms. Derix recently returned from training in Costa Rica, as part of the RTT Environmental Education Program.  In Semester II, Grades 5 to 8 will participate in the Reforest the Trees program.