India

The India reforestation project was in a little-known state in northeast India called Meghalaya (‘The Abode of the Clouds’ in Sanskrit). The East Khasi Hills form part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion.

Mining had degraded the ancient biodiverse forest. The Indigenous Khasi people, who are at the heart of this project, actively restored the landscape to the native biodiverse forest while helping to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems.

For 5 years PrintReleaf worked closely with WeForest to restore this land and successfully completed work in May 2020.

The East Khasi Hills are home to ancient forests sacred to the Khasi people. Among the forests are stone monoliths, dedicated to warriors of the past 500 years. These same forests play host to many of the endangered species in this rich biodiverse region, with upward of 130 endangered species on the Red List of species published by the The International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Deforestation and land degradation from mining and unsustainable land use are placing these biological islands at great risk. Climate change is likely to cause additional stress on the forests, with consequences for the health and wellbeing of the community. Less than 10% of land within the project area is held under the authority of the Government of India: 90% is held by the communities, clans, and families constituting a Hima – an indigenous government body. The result is vested interested and emotional connection to generate long lasting change.

Planting partner, WeForest, works directly with a Federation of 10 Himas and 62 Khasi villages to actively restore the landscape, to combat climate change through carbon sequestration and to develop income opportunities that rely on a healthy, biodiverse standing forest.

Certified, Verifable Projects

PrintReleaf has a very robust 3rd party independent certification system governed by Certifying Body SGS International – the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company. SGS audits all reforestation partners to ensure they meet the requirements of the PrintReleaf Standard. Then they visit the forests to perform field audits to verify that every tree certified by PrintReleaf has been planted and survived.

Current Projects:

• Canada – View Certification
• Dominican Republic – View Certification
• Ireland – View Certification
• Madagascar – View Certification
• Mexico – View Certification
• Tanzania – View Certification
• United States: Mendocino, CA – View Certification
• United States: Lassen, CA – View Certification
• Brazil – Completed May 2020
• India – Completed May 2020