TWP and Positive Legacy Partner in the Caribbean

by Sebastian Africano, International Director

In partnership with Cloud 9 Adventures and their non-profit arm, Positive Legacy, Trees, Water & People is providing festival goers in the Caribbean with opportunities to engage in meaningful social and environmental projects throughout the region.  During the first annual Strings and Sol bluegrass festival, over 25 people from the festival joined us at the Amanecer Learning Community – a new K-8 school near Tulum that provides alternative education involving knowledge of local culture, environment, yoga, arts, and theater in combination with the standard academic curriculum.  Volunteers donated school supplies and digital cameras to the students, and were able to help in the construction of a clean cookstove, plus paint several murals around the school as the children presented us songs and dances they had prepared. This partnership with the Amanecer Learning Community is in its earliest stages, and we look forward to watching it grow and flourish over the years. Thanks to everyone who came out to support this project!

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Northern Haiti Tree Nursery Producing Thousands of Fruit Trees!

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Our friends at SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods) sent some beautiful shots of their thriving tree nursery in northern Haiti, near the town of Labadee. In 2012, we partnered with SOIL, Positive Legacy, and Jam Cruise passengers to plant 10,000 fruit trees in this nursery. The trees are looking great and are making their way out to surrounding communities where they will be planted by families and local farmers.

Now, we are raising funds to keep this tree nursery going through 2013! The 10,000 Trees for Haiti campaign will support reforestation, community tree planting, and agricultural education in northern Haiti.

Would you like to help us plant 10,000 more trees in 2013? Make a donation to the “10,000 Trees for Haiti” campaign and it will be matched dollar for dollar!

Update: 6,000 citrus trees seeded in Haiti

by Sebastian Africano, International Director

Jam Cruiseres work together to seed 6,000 citrus trees in Labadee, Haiti.

With support from Haitian non-profit Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (S.O.I.L.) and Trees, Water & People (TWP), Positive Legacy and Jam Cruise passengers led the charge in seeding 6,000 citrus trees, thus launching a 10,000 seedling nursery at SOIL’s rural compost site in Limonade, Haiti.

Thank you Jam Cruisers!

Positive Legacy and Trees, Water & People have partnered to offset Jam Cruise passenger’s carbon footprints since Jam Cruise 6, a collaboration that has netted tens of thousands of trees planted and hundreds of clean cookstoves built.  Jam Cruise 10 represented the most ambitious carbon offsetting effort to date, as the establishment of this nursery will lead to a healthier environment, stable livelihoods, and increased tree cover in Northern Haiti for years to come.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event; it wouldn’t have been a success without your enthusiasm and energy!

10,000 Trees for Haiti

Labadee, Haiti

Together with Jam Cruise 10, Positive Legacy, and Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL), we are planting 10,000 native tree seeds today in Labadee, Haiti! This hands on project is part of Positive Legacy’s mission “to create meaningful opportunities for music fans and musicians to become active participants in reducing the environmental impact of the events we participate in, and to do something positive for the communities we visit.”

The trees will be transported to a nursery built at SOIL’s compound in Cap Haitien, Haiti and will be raised with care for introduction into communities around Northern Haiti. If every passenger and artist participates in the project by taking just a few minutes to contribute, we can easily reach our goal of planting 10,000 seedlings to start the nursery.

Native tree seedling

Thousands of diverse indigenous seeds will be made available for this activity, ensuring that our efforts will increase biodiversity, stabilize hillsides, improve soil quality, provide food security and create income-generating activities for the communities of northern Haiti.

Stay tuned for photos and video of the tree planting event.

Thank you to Positive Legacy, SOIL, and all the Jam Cruisers for making this event possible!

Jam Cruise10 Carbon Offsets

Every year Jam Cruise passengers and Positive Legacy donate funds to Trees, Water & People‘s projects to offset the miles they’ve traveled to get to the cruise, and the emissions from the cruise itself.  Proceeds from this program go to funding reforestation work and cookstoves in Central America and Haiti.  This year 100% of the funds will go to starting a tree nursery with Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods at their compost site in Northern Haiti.

Benefit people and the planet at Jam Cruise 10!

One hundred percent of carbon offsets sold for Jam Cruise 10 will benefit the northern community of Limonade, Haiti, where Trees, Water & People and our partner SOIL (www.oursoil.org) are working together to launch a 10,000 seedling nursery that will reforest the surrounding north coast.

Last year, more than 400 passengers offest their carbon, making Clould 9 and Jam Cruise passengers one of Trees, Water & People’s largest carbon offset partners!