In 1997, Florence Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) to address the severe problems of resulting from deforestation and land degradation in less developed countries. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama from 1991-1993

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Panama: Peace Corps Panama : The Peace Corps in Panama: In 1997, Florence Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) to address the severe problems of resulting from deforestation and land degradation in less developed countries. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama from 1991-1993

By Admin1 (admin) on Sunday, July 08, 2001 - 12:36 am: Edit Post

In 1997, Florence Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) to address the severe problems of resulting from deforestation and land degradation in less developed countries. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama from 1991-1993.



In 1997, Florence Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) to address the severe problems of resulting from deforestation and land degradation in less developed countries. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama from 1991-1993.

n 1997, Florence Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) to address the severe problems of resulting from deforestation and land degradation in less developed countries. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama from 1991-1993.

Back to Alumni Articles and Profiles Florence Reed ‘90 Executive Director Sustainable Harvest International Portsmouth, NH

Majors: International Affairs and Environmental Conservation Language: Spanish Study abroad: Guatemala - Summer 1989

1991-1993 Peace Corps Volunteer, Panama

In 1997, Florence Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) to address the severe problems of resulting from deforestation and land degradation in less developed countries. Says Reed, "While many organizations are doing the important work of preserving the world’s remaining tropical forest in reserves, SHI was established to provide local people with viable alternatives to cutting down the forests around their communities."

The non-profit organization works with farmers, cooperatives, environmental organizations and indigenous groups in Central America, helping to plant trees that provide fruit, firewood, fertilizer and animal feed; improve soils and increase food crop production and water supplies, and establish rare hardwoods as a long term investment to increase family incomes.

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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Panama; Special Interests - Forestry

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By Florence Reed (freed4) on Tuesday, June 04, 2002 - 11:54 am: Edit Post

Sustainable Development Organization founded by RPCV Celebrates 5th Anniversary

Sustainable Harvest International
Five Years of Reversing Rainforest Destruction
and Poverty in Central America

Portsmouth, NH, May 14, 2002—Five years, 611 families, four countries and 790,000 trees later, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) celebrates its fifth anniversary of reversing rainforest destruction and poverty in Central America.
Founded May 14, 1997 by Florence Reed, a 1990 graduate of the University of New Hampshire and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Panama ’91 – ’93), the Portsmouth, NH based nonprofit organization began working with ten Honduran communities.
Now, SHI provides more than 611 families in 71 communities in Honduras, Panamá, Belize and Nicaragua with long-term technical assistance in sustainable alternatives to slash-and-burn farming, a leading cause of rainforest destruction and poverty worldwide.
Committed to providing a framework for Central Americans to help themselves take control of their environmental and economic destinies, SHI’s 15 Central American field personnel teach sustainable land-use practices that restore the rainforest and dramatically increase participants’ standard of living.
In addition to planting more than 790,000 trees, participants have also saved 30,000 acres of rainforest from slash-and-burn destruction by converting more than 2,000 acres to sustainable uses. Organic garden vegetables improve participants’ nutrition and crops like organic coffee and chocolate increase their incomes.
SHI works only with farmers who both seek assistance and agree to invest their time and resources into the program. Each SHI participant can count on regular visits from an extensionist for a period of three to five years.
SHI’s long-term technical assistance ensures that sustainable techniques take root in the community and will continue to flourish long after the period of direct assistance ends.
“I have seen good results. Organic (farming) is the way to go. I no longer have to buy chemicals. It is convincing that SHI’s project really teaches farmers in the tropics to live simply and sustainably” says a participant farmer.


Word of SHI’s success has spread rapidly and the organization regularly receives requests from hundreds of Central America communities, as well as organizations in South America, Asia and Africa.
While serving in the Peace Corps in Panamá in the early 1990s, Florence Reed saw first hand the devastating ecological and economic consequences of slash-and-burn farming. Eroded hillsides, dry watersheds, vast expanses of once lush rainforest turned to desert and poor people who lacked knowledge of any other way to farm regularly confronted her.
Recognizing an opportunity to help, Reed researched sustainable alternatives that would restore the rainforest while increasing agricultural yields and family income. Together, she and the community members made great strides toward sustainability.
Reed returned to the US determined to work for an organization providing similar technical assistance. When she didn’t find one, a Swiss man familiar with her work in Panamá donated the initial funds necessary to start Sustainable Harvest International’s program in Honduras. SHI’s work is now supported by hundreds of donors in North America and Europe.
Five years later, Reed is thrilled with the success of her organization. “I am confident that all of SHI’s accomplishments over the past five years are a drop in the bucket compared to what we will achieve in the coming five.”
For more information, please contact Florence Reed or Sara Scott. Sustainable Harvest International/ 104 Congress Street, Suite 401/ Portsmouth, NH 03801/ 603.427.0735 (phone)/ 603.422.8762 (fax) / info@sustainableharvest.org (e-mail)/ www.sustainableharvest.org (web).


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