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Published in Summer 2006
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Churches lend support to ‘eco-palm’ harvesters
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| Dean Current from the University of Minnesota inspects a shipment of ‘eco-palm’ prior to Palm Sunday in 2005. The pilot project started by the CEC has grown beyond expectations thanks to the support of churches across the United States.
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Churches in 34 states helped protect rainforests,
stimulate jobs and create education scholarships with the purchase of over 80,000 ‘eco-palm fronds’ for Palm Sunday services this March.
The palm fronds, imported from Mexico and Guatemala, were certified as environmentally sustainable by Rainforest Alliance under a project begun by the CEC and now wholly administered by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management (CINRAM).
Dean Current, program manager for CINRAM, says 282 congregations paid up to double the normal price for chamaedorea palm fronds to ensure that they were harvested in a sustainable manner, as well as provide improved income to harvesting communities.
“We are getting the word out with the help of
organizations like Lutheran World Relief that there
are measurable environmental and social benefits to supporting environmentally harvested palm. And, to
the credit of these congregations, very few churches that called for information about our ‘eco-palms’ balked at the idea of spending more money to help the environment and another community.”
The certification and improved quality offered by sustainable harvesting empowers harvesters to negotiate extra funds from wholesalers like Continental Floral Greens—a partner in the project—that stimulate local job growth and contribute to community funds allocated to educational scholarships. This year, 20 temporary jobs were created and an extra US$4,000 contributed to two community funds.
The palm fronds, which symbolized triumph and
victory in ancient times, are gaining new significance in rainforests of Mexico and Guatemala. “Palms harvested in the forest add value to the forest for local populations,” explains Juan Trujillo, a former harvester of chamaedorea palms and project manager for the Rainforest Alliance effort. “Because the community is able to extract a valuable product from the forest, they protect the forest to protect their income.”
Current says the industry for chamaedorea palms,
estimated at US$250–300 million in the United States, has its biggest sales on Palm Sunday. The first day of Holy Week accounts for roughly 10 percent or more of the total annual demand of chamaedorea palms.
The CINRAM project began as an initiative of the CEC to demonstrate that trade, under the right conditions, can yield environmental benefits. Last year, 22 churches participated in the project with an order of more than 5,000 palm fronds.
“We are delighted to see this project continue and
see it demonstrate so effectively how trade can green
our economies,” says Chantal Line Carpentier of the CEC.
To find out how you can order ‘eco-palm’ for your
congregation, please consult the CINRAM web site at http://cinram.umn.edu/ecopalms/index.html.
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