The latest news |
12/2009: The rainy season is peaking in Panama. The growth of the trees exploded with start of the season and some trees have grown 4-5 feet in the last four months. In the Adelante plantation that is now 1.5 year old, some of the rosewood trees are 15ft. high--exceptional for this species. Mahogany trees that are 2.5 years old are now 20+ft. tall and are beginning to spread their canopies above the undergrowth. The local population is impressed that our mixed species plantations are growing better than our competitors' mon-culture teak plantings.
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11/2009: Planting Empowerment will be featured at the GreenDrinksDC  happy hour. Be sure to check it out on Tuesday, November 10th, 6pm, at Science Club in DC.
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10/2009: Planting Empowerment will participate in DC Green Festival. The Green Festival is the world's largest sustainability event, and promotes solutions to help make our lives healthier--socially, economically and environmentally. Individuals along with business and community leaders come together to discuss critical issues that impact us at home and abroad. Organizations and businesses showcase programs and products that restore the planet and all that inhabit it. Come visit us at booth 237. |
7/2009: PE and partner indigenous community Arimae have received approval for a project designed to increase economic benefits from forest conservation. The project, funded by the United Nations Development Program's Small Grants Projects, will include a baseline carbon analysis of Arimae's 2000 hectare rainforest reserve, creation of a native trees nursery, and reforestation of five hectares of the community's deforested land. Learn more about the Small Grants Program on their website |
5/2009: Planting Empowerment has reached the final round of the SEED Competition, a collaboration of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). PE will compete for a package of professional services valued at roughly $25,000.
Read the full Press Release .
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3/2009: Forester Jose Deago joined the Planting Empowerment team in March, bringing over 15 years of experience in community forestry. Jose is regarded in Panama as an expert on native tree species.
Students from Berkley with Global Environmental Brigades visited Panama, and helped to perform a baseline study of the trees growing in PE's plantations. |
1/2009: The NY Times recognized Planting Empowerment as 1 of 23 "Innovative Ideas".
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/ideas-panama-t.html?ref=edlife |
11/2008: Planting Empowerment is set to become the exclusive supplier of carbon offsets to
Crooked Trails , a non-profit that seeks to improve economic and educational opportunities around the world by changing the way people travel. |
11/2008: Planting Empowerment launches the Forest Savings Bond (FSB), an affordable way to invest responsibly. The FSB provides socially minded investors a competitive return on their investment and various social and environmental benefits. |
| 11/2008: PE participated in Washington DC’s annual Green Festival , which took place at the Washington Convention Center. The Green Festival is a gathering of socially and environmentally responsible businesses and the consumers that support them. |
| 8/2008: PE has reached the final round of the Social Venture Network's
Innovation Awards Program . The SVN supports the next generation of innovators and leaders in socially responsible business. |
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8/2008: PE launches its upgraded website, offering more comprehensive information on the innovative business model, and online investments. |
| 6/2008: Planting Empowerment completed its 2nd ten hectare round of investor funded planting between Arimae and Nuevo Paraiso. This year’s operation went smoothly, and now 11,000 tropical trees are soaking up the sun and growing strong! New to the plantations is a component that protects primary forest through an agreement with our Indigenous community partner, Arimae. Now, for every acre of trees financed by our investors, it protects 5 acres of important primary forest. |
| 5/2008: Once again, Planting Empowerment was recognized for its innovative socially and environmentally sustainable business model. The University of Texas at Austin awarded Planting Empowerment 2nd place at the Social Innovation Competition, held on May 2nd. PE beat out over 1,000 teams from 97 universities to make it to the final round. http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/rgk/competition/index.php . |
| 3/2008: PE reached the semi-final round of the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship competition. Two of its founders, Chris Meyer and Andrew Parrucci, were recognized for their leadership/management talents and social innovation. |
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1/2008: Planting Empowerment's first investors spent three days touring the plantations, learning about sustainable forestry, and meeting the local Panamanians who are benefitting from their investment. |
| 6/2007: 25 acres of once depleted land have been reforested with commercial hardwoods. Momentum continues to build for Planting Empowerment's next round of planting, as local Panamanians learn more about, and increasingly support, this innovative reforestation initiative. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make it a reality! |
| 4/2007: Notre Dame Social Venture Plan Competition awarded Planting Empowerment 2nd prize, recognizing its potential to slow deforestation throughout Central America. The PE team, represented by Meyer and Parrucci, beat out stiff competition from across the country to compete in this respected social entrepreneurship venue. |
| 3/2007: Planting Empowerment walked away with third place in the Yale School of Management's Entrepreneurship Competition, having presented a strong case for sustainable reforestation in the world of social investing. Along the way, the PE team gained vauable feedback and advice that will help to strengthen its business proposal. |
3/2007: The University of Washington's Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition attracted some of the world's best and brightest social entrepreneurs, each competing for prize money and potential investors. Out of an initial pool of 150, Planting Empowerment reached the top five, and came away with third prize.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003590843_global27.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/305397_competition28.html |
