Food Forests and Large-Scale Reforestation

Are food forests viable for large-scale reforestation efforts? The domestic Government of the Republic of the Philippines currently has a push for the reforestation of roughly two million hectares of land. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is pushing similar efforts for three million hectares within the Congolese rainforest basin. Similar efforts are underway for both the Amazon and Borneo rainforest basins.

OPISAC has received tentative approval through stage 3 for food forest and reforestation operations in the Philippines, with both Private and Public support for expanded operations in the other areas mentioned, contingent on the successful implementation of the pilot program in the Philippines.

Unfortunately, when the rubber met the road, the majority of our “experts” determined that utilizing food forests for major reforestation efforts was somehow or another antithetical to the principles of Permaculture as set forth and established by Mollison and Holmgren.

Additional technologies such as those used to process municipal solid waste and for wastewater treatment proved incapable of meeting the strict environmental standards of the Philippines bringing the overall economic sustainability, or at least the initial economic maturity into question.

Thus, we have reverted to the position of just a few people with a great idea, unless of course, you know someone who is interested and put them in touch with us, even or especially if that is you. Mind you, there is also a viable program that has not only been introduced, but which has also received full approval through to stage three.

As is the case with any successful reforestation efforts, the food forests will have to be properly managed and maintained. This challenge will be made even more difficult given the vast amounts of food and potential harvests that some may wish to obtain either for personal stores, or even for personal gain in the case of sales and other profit-based exploitation.

Part of this challenge will be addressed through the introduction of the reforestation efforts in cooperation with the indigenous tribes, falling, at least partially, under tribal leadership and control, or in a cooperative effort with the foundation and the relevant domestic government and tribal agencies and their agents.

This integrated and adaptive oversight and management will be necessary for the utilization and managed exploitation of the food forests at such a time as they have reached a sufficient level of environmental maturity, and are producing at levels adequate for introducing the feeding and some business programs for the indigent members of society.

It needs to be understood that even at scale, the food forests will take somewhere between eight to fifteen years to fully mature in tropical and subtropical climates such as those found within the Philippines.

Conversely, the food forests are one aspect of the program that are viable for the long-term, well beyond the initial two hundred year plan established by the foundation. This is of course clearly evidenced by existing food forests.

One food forest in Vietnam has been around for literally hundreds of years, and at the time of the last report I saw, the maintenance requirements were so demanding that an octogenarian couple were tasked with the daily oversight and management of operations on site.

The other classic example is a food forest in Southern Morocco, or more accurately in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, specifically within the Tighmert oasis, which was estimated to have been planted some time nearly two thousand years ago.

While I cannot say for certain, it does seem very likely that over the course of 2000 years, encompassing everything from Roman Expansion to the Dark Ages and into the modern age, spanning across literally every era in between, that there are likely periods where nobody was tasked with caring for this particular food forest. Despite the lack of human intervention, or maybe because of humanity not interfering with the natural processes, this food forest has continued to produce surplus food some two thousand years later.

In terms of management within the current socioeconomic and sociopolitical systems, the food forests will be integrated with additional permacultural pursuits as well as rural development and poverty eradication, all, ideally at least, in an attempt to lay the groundwork for systemically sustainable human growth and development.

The first step is the creation of the Rural Development Centers, which in this instance will be combined to include the Permaculture Centers. These facilities will serve as the primary locations for operations to establish the food forests and commence the larger reforestation programs.

As of yet, at least until I can find my permaculture and food forest experts, and yeah, I know you are out there, and we are looking for you, so please, leave us a comment, send us a message, or let us know you are here, because until you are on board and working with us, we do not have the exact parameters for these centers. Neither do we know how many of the more vulnerable members of society we can assist, and we do not even know how many of the permaculture centers will need to be created … though even there we are going to encounter some variables that we are not in a position to answer definitively at the time of this writing.

We do know that the food forests will require fairly low maintenance once they have reached full maturity, though the reforestation efforts are likely to continue for at least another twenty to twenty-five years in our initial estimates, though these are very rough estimates based on numbers that have not been settled at the time of this writing.

Conversely, the livestock efforts at the permaculture or rural development centers should be operating at full capacity within two to three years depending on the local demands, and the needs at the domestic level.

Livestock and agricultural markets will be expanded to include surrounding areas at such a time that there may be any threat, directly or indirectly to the local area markets. This will be accomplished through the introduction of mobile food stands on trikes (motorcycle trikes) and padjaks (or bicycle/tricycle powered carts), mobile food trailers, food stands, and sit-down restaurants eventually.

These foundation-owned commercial operations will further serve for the added purpose of providing paid employment and business ownership opportunities for those formerly among the most vulnerable members of society, as will the additional commercial enterprises owned by the foundation.

In full accordance with Philippine laws, the standards of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law or ICNL, and the basic principles of incorporation, the foundation will be the rightful recipient of the net proceeds from commercial operations.

Each commercial venture shall pay taxes in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices or GAAP, with the net proceeds serving as donations to the foundation for funding of operations, growth, and expansion.

In compliance with Philippine Laws, not less than seventy percent of those net commercial proceeds shall be used for the general welfare or infrastructure and development programs. At such a time as a sufficient level of economic maturity has been attained to ensure the continued growth and expansion of foundation operations, strategic investments such as flexible premium and set-return investments like asset-backed securities, hedge-fund investments, among others, will be introduced to ensure the continued funding for programs that are a net financial liability.

Such an approach will allow for things like education and ultimately, even health care and medical treatment, to be provided free of charge in the case of education, or with a minimal co-pay in terms of healthcare to the beneficiaries and recipients of these programs without placing undue burdens on the taxpayers and already over-burdened government assistance programs.

Additional benefits will be seen with the inclusion of paulownia trees, though these may in fact, be placed in more isolated plantations or other restricted areas, and must be continually managed given the prolific growth rates. However, and ideally with some minor changes in laws regarding the export of the raw timber and lumber, these trees can also help to end, or at least to greatly curtail the illegal trade in lumber and timber, and the main reason behind much of the ongoing deforestation that is so destructive to these natural and necessary environments.

The ability to increase the use of paulownia timber within the Philippines, in addition to the ability to grow exceptionally valuable veneer logs within approximately eight years make this a viable and equally profitable alternative to the teak and mahogany trees in particular, though in addition to other hardwood species throughout the Philippines.

Likewise, even the leaves of the paulownia trees in the food forests can be introduced for multiple purposes as well, including livestock feed supplements. All the potential benefits do not however, outweigh the need to ensure that “Sa Kahoy Ng Buhay” or the “Tree of Life” as it is known in some areas of the Philippines, is not allowed to continue devastating otherwise natural and even some otherwise pristine woodlands.

It seems that in this particular case, success is imminent, though the capacity for the commencement of operations remains highly questionable.

If you, or anyone you know may be interested in working in their spare time to assist in saving the world, eradicating the scourge of poverty, and assisting the most vulnerable members of society in enjoying a better median quality of life, we would love to hear from you. Please, let us know in the comments below or feel free to message us directly.