User:Jennymariadoyle/New Root

New Root is a non-profit organization dedicated to forest conservation and the promotion of education.

History
Bill, Nathan, and Ben Fash founded New Root in 2009. The Fash brothers have spent half of their lives in Copán, Honduras, where their family has a 10 acre fruit and coffee farm. Having attended public school and borne witness to unsustainable land-use practices in their hometown, they were inspired to start New Root. With generous collaboration from Directors Aron Chang, William Hood, and Jenny Doyle as well as fantastic legal counsel from Benton Bodamer and Max Goodman of Weil, Gotshal, and Manges, New Root was registered as a non-profit in MA in 2009 and expects to receive 501(c)(3) status in Spring 2010.

Regional Context
Honduras is naturally and culturally rich but economically and politically poor. The country's forests have been devastated by mines, dams, industrial agriculture, and slash-and-burn agriculture for the last century. 30% of Honduran land has been granted in mining concessions and palm oil exports have gone up 650% in the last decade. As a result, Honduras has lost approximately 40% of the forest cover that it had in 1990.

Current Projects
New Root is currently working with local organizations in Copán, Honduras to create a conservation area and with public schools to develop education projects. New Root is supporting research in Copán to identify high-priority areas for old-growth forest conservation and ecological restoration. Copán is home to pine/oak evergreen forests, dry tropical forests, and cloud forests like those in Cerro Azul National Park. The research there will inform projects to create and expand protected areas and their buffer zones. We are currently working with local environmental NGOs who have done the initial research and private landholders who are interested in buffering protected areas with sustainable forestry, agroforestry, and silvopasture. Read more about the conservation projects we support.

Educational Initiatives
New Root also seeks to support and establish close relationships with local communities by funding environmental education programs and public schools. Public schools in Honduras often lack adequate facilities and materials.