Improving lives with value added wood, Costa Rica

Wood from trees grown by farmers is more than precious. It has taken years of hard work and maintainance of each plantation to obtain beautiful sawn boards, which capture carbon dioxide as they become part of a home or furniture. 

ASIREA is working dollar by dollar towards the goal of drying our sawn wood to obtain higher prices as a high quality product in a market where most local wood is sold humid.  If farmers percieve better income they will plant more trees...which will in turn capture more carbon dioxide, protect soils and water and just be beautiful... making the world a better place. It makes sense. 

We have not reached our funding goal to buy a solar wood kiln...but we are trying to dry wood at a kiln as a step in the right direction.  This makes the wood more expensive and therefore less competitive because we have to transport the wood 50 kilómeters to dry it and also pay for this service. Still we want to share with you the fact that we are really making the effort and the good news is that the wood has lost 80% humidity in about a month and in about two weeks we start on our first sales. 

We are also developing modern furniture models and local furniture makers are making them- and we hope to be opening a new market for smaller pieces of wood which are discarded or sold for very little by making furniture for many local wood workers.

Some days it seems like we are going uphill, but we truely believe in what we are doing: creating an option for a really green industry with local participation. We are doing the "teach how to fish part" and you are with us. Our success will be the base for success in other places in Costa Rica and other countries. Thank you for walking this path with us. 

Doña Ana, who lives at Isleta, told me about when she began her life where she lives now. To claim the land, she had to cut trees, who were givin to the tractor driver in exchange for the work on the road. Now, about 40 years later, she has reforested her land, and cultivates organic vegetables and fruit and also has cattle, chickens, goats. She has had children and grandchildren. But wood prices are still low for the farmer when they sell the wood without adding value.

ASIREA continues to work towards this goal. GlobalGiving Bonus Day just passed, and with the enthusiastic support from many people who believe in our work we have now raised $4,471: almost 20% of what is needed.

This leads me to reflect that we need a better method, otherwise this could take years! SO! I am going to visit some companies with many employees, to see if it is possible to advance more, next Global Giving day!

Do YOU have any suggestions? Let us know at janesegleau@asirea.org

Meanwhile we continue to produce and sell mulch, and have included more projects such as BIOAGUAS, which are micro-organisms that clean the septic tank. We also produce organic fertilizer. We hope soon to open a busness with our wood and other envirnmental products. 

We are also organizing the BIOFESTIVAL, which THIS YEAR will promote ZERO PLASTIC with the United Nations. So! In this we are advancing!

Finally, you probably noticed another project we have on GlobalGiving: this is for people who own forest and have NO support to protect it. Many of these people have forests with tapirs...jaguars...but are very poor. This fundaraising project is commanded by three french students. Little by little we hope to change real things in the world. Please check out this effort too. 

Thank YOU for believing in our work!

Jane Segleau Earle and the ASIREA BOARD AND WORKERS