Our Response
Trees for the Future is working with farming communities, schools, and women’s groups through a network of local organizations to address the water crisis that is punishing the region’s agricultural production and the health of the people. There is interest in planting a variety of fruit trees, timber and non-timber species suitable for the degraded red soil - with the emphasis being placed on planting fast-growing, multipurpose species that are supplying a wide array of products while serving as barriers to minimize further erosion.

The majority of all our work over the last two years has been in the region of Tamil Nadu, the southeastern region hit hardest by the devastating 2004 tsunami. We have recently expanded to Andhra Pradesh, a region that is suffering from prolonged droughts, and in 2009 we are starting a new program in the northern state of Uttarakhand, which will be working with villages and local governments to enhance the productivity of common lands.

November 2009
Although this years poor monsoon delayed our tree planting work, eventually the rains came and the saplings were able to be distributed and planted. Our work in the North, in partnership with RACHNA, has distributed over 6,000 seedlings in 6 communities in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand. In Andhra Pradesh, Gangisetty has distributed nearly 100,000 seedlings as well as nearly 200,000 seeds. In Tamil Nadu, Subramanian and his local partners have distributed nearly 100,000 seedlings along with over 75,000 seeds.

January 2009
We have translated our Agroforestry training program into Telugu, and will soon complete the translation into Tamil. In-country seed distribution is underway, and we hope to distribute over 2 million seeds as part of our programs in 2009. Our partners continue to find new and innovative ways to plant trees, in a region that has extremely high population density. The India program continunes to grow, and we have contacts throughout the country that are ready to start planting trees in the coming year.