Entrepreneur Jerry Wiatt is the founder of Olympia, Washington-based Treasure Hunt Group. Through his company, Jerry Wiatt supports Trees for the Future.
The public charity Trees for the Future takes an agroforestry approach to helping improve the lives of people who live on land where the soil has been depleted due to logging or poor land-management practices. Farmers are provided with tree seeds, practical training, and local planning assistance to help rejuvenate the land.
The charity’s Forest Garden Program involves the systematic planting of certain kinds of trees and crops over a four year period, a strategy which has proven to positively change the lives of the farmers and their families forever. This approach results in the creation of sustainable resources such as food, wood for fuel, salable products, livestock feed, and an increase in annual income by up to 500 percent for those in participating communities.
Trees for the Future is supported by corporate and individual donations and currently has 14 projects in five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since its founding in 1989 the charity has planted more than 115 million trees in dozens of countries.
