Started in 2009 through the generous donation of Lynne and Lexington Dorner Peterson:

“In honor of all of you and of reconciliation, we are planting Forgiveness Forest in Brazil.

 

My reconciliation to you- (Words From, "Peace is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hanh)

 

     'I am sorry, I hurt you out of my ignorance, out of my lack of mindfullness, out of my lack of skillfullness.  I will try my best to change myself.  I don't dare to say anything more to you.'”

1) Lexington Anthony Dorner Peterson

2) Lynne Dorner

3) Mary Anne Victoria and Theodore Michael Dorner

4) Ted E, Karen, Grace and Sarah Dorner (and Family)

5) Christine, Rich, Tori and Jessica Albanese

6) Carin, Deiter, Madison and Karl Schulz

7) Dana Mansell

8) Jennifer Rowse Eck and Family

9) Laura Herman

10) Karen Lacy, Lex's Godmother

11) Mariel and Eric Acquafredda

12) Jill Sommerstein

13) Amber & Lewis

14) Jessica Levin

15) Haley Sugar

16) Yesenia Diaz

17) Tara Hogan

18) Elizabeth Hickey

19) Jennifer Furst

20) Shvetta Kakar

21) Christine Hadermayer

22) Christine Lo Presti

23) Rachel Ruedy

24) Renae Stahl Jackson and Family

25) Jessica and Corey Manual

26) Susan Jacobson

27) Christine Singh

28) Nubia Salguero

29) The Lanham Family

30) The YAI Early Intervention program (Ellen, Marquis, Peter, Jenny, Amy and Judith)

31) Anthony and Margaret Dorner

32) James and Anne Soens

33) Louis and Helen Conti

34) Fred and Edna Brinkman

35) Frank and Jen Becker

36) The Peterson Family

37) Nico and John Parziano

38) Oprah Winfrey

39) The Obama Family

40) The Geary Family

41) The Mosley Family

42) Uncle Bill and Aunt Louise Dorner

43) Bill, Solonge, Anthony and Sydney Dorner

44) Michele, Ron, Zach and Sierra Zygmunt

45) Lisa Dorner, Chip, Locke and Amalia Meyer

46) Steve and Cathy Goldie

47) The Bauman and Merkle Family

48) Dr John Lantis

49) Dr Katrina Bradley and Family

50) Jennifer Bates Wheeler and Family

51) The Brook Family

52) Joanna Brennerman

53) Cathy Jaque

54) Lea Cohen

55) Nichole Gibson and Family

56) Tracey Huger

57) The Carravetta Family

58) Lauren Aguiar

59) Suzanne and Edward Rowse and Family

60) Roman and Family

61) Jill and Dave Gordon

62) James and Jan Soens and Family

63) Mrs Carolyn Mansell

64) Mr Howard Mansell and Family

65) Mr Richard I. Lacy and Family

66) Mrs Dottie Lacy

67) Pamela and Gerald Herman and Family

68) Robert and Christian Angelo

69) Shana, Greg and Ander Berman and Family

70) Liangela Cabrera

71) In memory of Stuart Lanham

72) In memory of Scott “Zach” Eskinazi

73) In memory of Dominick Dunn

74) The wedding of Laura and Charles Ault

75) The wedding of Dave and Megan Przywara

76) The Village Church and nursery staff

77) Natalie Bush and growing Family

78) The MDA Foundation in honor of Jessica Albanese

79) The Clients of Lynne’s Electrolysis

80) Lindsey Castillo

81) Ben “benny-bens” and Michael

82) Deb and David Schlosberg

83) Jaqueline Dixon

84) Lenore Muller

85) Karen Ouzouian

86) Kristen Duffy

87) Patricia Donini, for making giving easier

88) Mara Hoffman

89) Koren Reyes

90) Ary Nunez

91) Greg- Adaptive Design

92) Betti Iannucci

93) Tiffany Albert, Fusion Spa

94) Claudia Parilla, Cloud 9 Spa

95) Lucy Jones Block and Family (Ken, Kiera and Lia)

96) Karen and Holden (Thompson)

97) Hannah Thompson

98) Larissa Jaye- for holding it all for me!

99) Rhonda Britten and The Fearless Living Institute

100) The Past- all of it!

A Little About Agroforests

The area where we are planting in Brazil was cleared of forest many years ago for wood sale and to make way for cattle grazing.  In the years since then the native plants are slowly making inroads into repopulating the disturbed land.  Natural succession of the area will take it from grasslands to scrubby/weedy clusters of trees, to slower growing hardwoods, until a mature forest ecosystem is once again established.  This process can take many decades or longer.  When Ciclo Sustainable took over the land a couple of years ago we began planting trees to help speed the process along, essentially trying to skip over the middle sequence of succession and go straight back to mature forest.  We've since learned of a technique to help the process proceed even faster, and to significantly increase the biodiversity and health of the forest, as well as ensure that a much higher percentage of the trees survive to maturity.

The approach is commonly referred to as "agroforestry," and it essentially mimics the complete sequence of succession from grassland to forest (not just skipping ahead to the end), but much much faster.  We plant the weedy trees, the shrubs, herbs, and the slower-growing longer-lived trees all at once.  They help each other become established by sharing nutrients, shade, and self-mulching just as they would in the unaided succession process.  The end product is a more resilient, healthier forest.

Below are some photos of an agroforest that was started in late September 2008.  You can see pictures from 4 months and 1 year later - even in the dry season it is easy to see how the plants are thriving!  We’ll be posting photos of the progress Forgiveness Forest is making soon.