CFI Founders Zach, Daimen and Jeff Spot a Downy Woodpecker at Whaelghinbran Farm

Having worked as a tree planter for many years, I’ve spent a lot of time in clear cuts and what I’ve experienced has deeply affected me and changed my life. I have seen how greed has dictated management, with little trickle-down to rural communities. I have seen delicate forest ecosystems destroyed for short term profit, and I’ve seen it across the world. Sometimes it’s hard to watch unfold, for this is not the only way. Alternative forestry methods exist that allow people to cut trees and generate profit respectfully, without sacrificing the resources that will be available for future generations.

These are the future generations we seem to have forgotten, but there is a silver lining. Places like Whaelghinbran exist, where individuals like Clark and Sue want to share their knowledge and inspire people like me to learn a healthier more sustainable way of living. I have learned from my mentors that one can operate in partnership with the forest, rather than in opposition to it. I have also learned that the forest is far more productive when it is healthy and alive, and that respectful harvesting retains the values that are so intrinsic to our overall happiness and prosperity. I work to save Whaelghinbran Farms because I believe that it could come to be the place where traditional knowledge, innovative new ideas and scientific information come together to change how we do forestry in the Maritimes.

Whaelghinbran Farm is caught between two vastly different fates. The first sees the farm and forest as a hands-on learning centre for sustainable forestry and organic agricultural practices in the Maritime; a place where you and I can learn from those who have come before us; a place to build on our heritage and improve our relationship with food, the forest, and one another. The second outcome, is much more upsetting- where the land is sold to the highest bidder and laid to waste to make quick money. This has already taken place on portions of what was once the Whaelghinbran Farm property, and it is the most likely scenario if we are not able to raise the funds necessary to save the farm.

Please help us make a stand for future generations. For more information about how you can get involved please visit our save the farm campaign page.

Zach Melanson

The Valley Slope at Whaelghinbran Farm

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A Restored Field at Whaelghinbran Farm

Whaelghinbran Farm is about more than the 581 acres that it is composed of. It is about more than the uncounted fisher, deer, moose, birds, raptors and beaver that inhabit its forest. Whaelghinbran is about more than just the ecological integrity of this valley that feeds into the Kennebecasis River, into the Saint John River, the Bay of Fundy, Gulf of Maine and into the waters of the North Atlantic that go on to circulate the globe.

Whaelghinbran Farm is about our ability to live in consonance with the rest of the natural world. Cleared of its native forest to the extent that around 85% of the land was used for field or pasture by 1890, Whaelghinbran Farm has been slowly but surely, as is nature’s way, doing what land in this part of the world does best: grow forest and thrive. Upon Clark and Sue’s arrival, this process was vulnerable, but entrenched. At any point, as has happened more often than not in the Acadian Forest Region, the restoration of the forests could have been reversed by cutting ‘overmature’ or ‘decaying’ trees and ‘silvicultural jungles:’ justifications given every day to rationalize forestry practices we all see too often.

However, Clark and Sue would have none of it. Careful, thoughtful interventions with a chainsaw- the silvicultural equivalent of a scalpel – created conditions that mimicked and expedited the natural process that was restoring the Acadian Forest at Whaelghinbran Farm. To say they worked hard to walk their talk would be an understatement; just ask Sue how much 4 foot pulp wood she has piled by hand over the years. Even when fire took their home and barns they refused to liquidate the timber assets of Whaelghinbran Farm, and stayed true to their philosophy. The fruits of their sacrifice are blatantly obvious upon arrival at the farm.

In an age of green washing and propaganda, the story of Whaelghinbran Farm shows that we can live harmoniously with nature. Whaelghinbran Farm shows that we can restore our native Acadian Forest, and prosper along with it. Clark and Sue stewarded Whaelghinbran Farm through its most vulnerable period. CFI hopes to pick up here by helping Whaelghinbran through its next phase of realizing its full potential as a healthy, working Acadian Forest. For more information about how you can get involved please visit our save the farm campaign page.

Endangered Forests – Saving Whaelghinbran Farm from Community Forests International on Vimeo.

Every dollar donated up until December 25th will be matched by an Anonymous donor!

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For the past few years, our local director, Mbarouk, has been telling me about a small island off of Pemba called Kokota. Kokota is one of those places where you have to ask – how did people ever come to settle here in the first place. Although the land is fertile and the fishing is good, Kokota faces one major problem. They have no fresh water.

Over the next few years we plan to expand our programming to develop new and innovative climate-change proof technologies. We’re planning on rolling out a whole host of new initiatives such as beekeeping, alternative energy, earth block building and fuel-efficient cook stove production. In light of our new initiatives, I thought I’d head over to Kokota and see things for myself.

Fishermen off of Kokota Islet

Approaching Kokota

When we first arrived we were greeted by a gang of kids. Not in school I asked? No school here, came the reply. No water, no school and no medical dispensary. This island population of 500 was truly the forgotten. Government, development groups and NGOs had completely missed this isolated islet.  As we walked up from the shore I quickly noticed the desperation. A pot was placed on a thatch roof to collect water.  A single gutter stood alone outside a hut.  All the wells that Kokota Islander have dug to date have turned up brackish seawater, unfit for drinking. I was told that people would make daily trips to Wete, Pemba, almost 4 hours away by wooden boat in order to collect water.

The Kokota Islet Welcoming Comittee

Rainwater Harvesting

More Rainwater Harvesting

I was told that the one person in town that could read and write would hold classroom sessions under a baobab tree. An effort was made to construct a school and the community had purchased bricks and assembled walls, but ran out of cash before they could put a roof on the structure. We talked to a group of women and quickly realized that trees, agroforestry and charcoal substitutes were far from people’s mind.

The Tree Serves as Kokota's Public School

And Here are the Students

As we left the island, I knew we’d found a new community to partner with. Trees and agroforestry will come in time but before that, we’ll put a metal roof on the school, collect rainwater and build storage tanks in order to store the thousands of liters of fresh water that fall from the sky during the rainy season. If people are going to plant trees and care for their environment, they’re going to need some drinking water first.  Kokota, Community Forests International will be back.

-Jeff Schnurr

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I’ve been working these past few weeks in CFI’s Native Plant Nursery and Food Forest Garden, bundling them up for the winter. Luckily for us, it has been a warm fall, so we’ve had a little more extra time to get things ready for the snow….

A Snowy Nursery

Food Forest Garden?

A Food Forest is a garden that is constructed in the image of nature. We see that nature provides for itself and does not need watering, fertilization, or even weeding. Yet, nature is productive and resilient when it is not disturbed. How can we bring these same principles into our gardens? We create the same necessary ecological functions we see in nature and bring them into the food forest.

Echinacea - Food Forest Garden

We started with the soil, 3 years ago. We added layers and layers of organic material – converting a lawn into a forest.

Food Forest Garden - The Beginning

Starting with brown grassy soil in 2009 – we now have black loamy soil and our plants are thriving!! We bring in wood chips and straw every year to continue to build soil, while adding plants that: attract beneficial insects, repel pests, create natural mulch, accumulate necessary nutrients, create wildlife habitat, and provide food and medicine. As years pass, our Food Forest garden will need less outside input because nature does the work for us!

Native Forest Garden - Summer 2011

Native Forest Garden - Mulched for the Winter

What we can create out of our Food Forest:

Native Forest Garden - Summer 2011

Sage Tea

Oswega Tea

Oregano Spice

Thyme Spice

Lemon Balm Tea

Apple Sauce, Apple Pie or just plain Apples

Daylily Fritters

Gooseberry Jam

Current Jam

Blackberries

Native Forest Garden - Mulched for the Winter

Yarrow Tea

Wild Ginger Candies

Northern Bayberry Leaf Spice

Morel Mushrooms

Highbush Cranberries

Fiddleheads

Rose Petals

Rose Hip Jelly

Wild Cherries

Elderberry Wine

Morel Mushroom

Elder Flower Tea

Elderberry Syrup

Elderberry Jam

Red Clover Tea

Witch Hazel Decoction

Wild Raisins

And coming soon: Native edible nuts!

Our Native Plant Nursery

Every year in Canada, CFI aims to plant thousands of trees in the Maritimes to restore biodiversity in the Acadian Forest. With many nurseries focusing on softwood trees, we saw a need to use under represented Acadian Forest species in our projects. So we collected seeds for stratification and planted trees in beds to use in our restoration projects for the summer of 2012.

Native Plant Nursery

Next year we hope to provide: Eastern White Cedar, Sugar Maple, Red Oak, Ironwood (Hop Hornbeam), White Ash, White Pine, and Red Spruce; as well as introduce shrubs and understory herbs into the nursery.

The chosen trees are long lived, slow growing, shade tolerant trees that are needed to restore the biodiversity of our forests so they can overcome the effects of climate change. Since the effects of climate change on the Acadian Forest are unknown, the best practice is to restore diversity by planting a variety of native softwoods, hardwoods, shrubs, and herbs in our backyards and on our woodlots.

Biological diversity includes a variety of plants, genetics, habitats, soils, and even tree ages. With diversity we create forest resilience that can withstand environmental stress and climate variability. We carry these ethics with us in our international projects, in hopes that by promoting community involvement and sharing knowledge globally, we can together make a difference.

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