Alliance for International Reforestation, Inc.

Our Goals are:
(1) to train as many rural families as we can reach in central Guatemala and Matagalpa, Nicaragua in Sustainable Regenerative Farming and to provide orchards and organic gardens for better nutrition and food security;
(2) to plant millions of beneficial trees, both for agro-forestry and reforestation of mountains in central Guatemala to prevent soil erosion and mudslides;
(3) to provide educational programs in dozens of schools, as well as scholarships for rural teens;
(4) to build hundreds of fuel-efficient brick stoves to protect lung health and conserve precious trees, throughout central Guatemala;
(5) to empower local decision-making by involving residents in every stage of planning and implementing projects;
(6) to restore Bird Habitat and to sequester millions of tons of carbon pollution by planting trees; and
(7) to foster the creation on microbusiness by turning over community tree nurseries and community gardens to participating farmers for their use at the end of our 5-year program

The first detail of AIR's strategy is the efficient use of the time and talent of AIR Technicians. Each technician teaches in seven communities and one school, for FIVE YEARS of training and then moves on to another set. This strategy has enabled a small staff to reach large areas of two departments, i.e. "states" in Guatemala, and AIR has now added the third Department of Quiche. The projects are sustainable into the far future because we stay long enough for community members of all ages to experience the improvements, not just hear about them. Recently, AIR was able to hire two more technicians to reach even more communities and schools-- over 60 communities at a time, each with a shared tree nursery averaging 10,000 tree seedlings planted at each site!
Secondly, each technician is a trusted native of Guatemala who speaks the Mayan language as well as Spanish--this provides extraordinary access and sustainable success.
Thirdly, residents have ownership of the projects from the first day and select their own leadership and sites for nurseries and stoves and cisterns. In fact, many of the tree nurseries become micro-businesses and families are able to sell tree seedlings to their neighbors for some income. It is up to them whether they take this step after AIR's five-year training.
Fourth, AIR accepts US volunteers each January and June, in order to have powerful friendship exchanges with the farmers. The volunteers are especially helpful during the season of transplanting seedlings and building stoves each June. But AIR avoids becoming a year-round "tourist" organization and losing our primary mission goals--we stay on task and follow the lead of the Guatemalan hosts.

AIR has an expert full-time staff of eight persons in Guatemala and two in Nicaragua and every full-time salaried member of AIR is a native resident.

The Executive Director of AIR, for instance, is Sra. Cecilia Ramirez who has earned business degrees and leads this award-winning organization with efficiency and effectiveness. She is aided every day by Administrative Assistant, Lidia Otzoy who began as one of AIR's scholarship students and is now attending college when she is not working with AIR.
AIR's technicians in the field each have degrees in Agro-forestry and two have earned Master's degrees in Environmental Engineering as well. In Guatemala, the AIR technicians are themselves K'akchiquel or Quiche Maya and know the native languages as well as Spanish and some English. The importance of this indigenous characteristic cannot be overstated-- farmers trust and relate to the AIR technicians immediately. This gives AIR an organizational capability and advantage that most environmental/agriculture nonprofits lack.
Finally, AIR has a team of dedicated Board members, donors, and volunteers in the United States-- including churches, Rotary Clubs, Foundations, and individuals.

*Over 5,000 Guatemalan families in rural communities have received five years of training in Regenerative Farming and have changed their farming methods (planting windbreak trees, fertilizing trees and fruit trees; no-till farming; poly-culture; terracing; without chemicals in fields; setting aside areas for forestry to prevent mudslides)
* 875 fuel-efficient stoves custom built in homes to prevent lung disease and to conserve trees;
* 200 schools with AIR's environmental curriculum and 14 rural schools that have received tree nurseries and vegetable gardens, along with intensive lessons by AIR technicians on composting, planting, nutrition, climate change, and native tree benefits;
* over 7 million trees planted for (a) agro-forestry to improve crop yields with richer soil, nitrogen-fixing tree roots,less soil erosion; and (b) reforestation trees planted on steep mountain slopes to prevent mudslides and to restore bird habitat.
* Even more trees have been planted by the majority of the communities which continue the tree nurseries beyond the five years of AIR training;
* 350 US volunteers from universities, Rotary Clubs and churches have worked with AIR-Guatemala (but only when needed, during the summer planting season). The volunteers plant trees, build stoves, form friendships. They also evaluate AIR's progress and strategies.
NEXT: AIR plans to continue our highly successful five-year model, and we have hired two new Technicians to expand the projects into the poorest area of Guatemala, the Department of Quiche. These two experts already are working in 10 new communities in Quiche training 189 farmers and students. AIR recently added a Farmer Training and Food Security program outside of Matagalpa, Nicaragua.