{"product_id":"plant-a-tree-on-sumba-island","title":"Plant a tree on Sumba Island","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe're planting trees on Sumba Island.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can help.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuy 50 trees and we'll plant them in your name, send you a photo and put your name on one of the project signboards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis month we're planting 6,000 trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot because we're trying to save the world. Just because it's worth doing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere's another part to this story too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYears ago we started the Wild Roots Foundation to protect 10 hectares of ancient Santigi forest on Sumba.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSantigi are extraordinary coastal trees. Some are over 300 years old but only around 10 feet tall because they've spent centuries clinging to the rocks by the sea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey were being dug up illegally and shipped to Bali, where they were sold as luxury garden specimens. After a few years they usually died, because they belong on the coastline where they'd spent centuries growing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo we stopped it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday those trees are still exactly where they should be, and hopefully they'll still be there in another hundred years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's funny really.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost people think Banana Industries sells bicycle tyres, saddles and olive oil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhich we do.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey probably don't expect that we're also planting forests and protecting ancient trees on a small island in Indonesia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNone of this happens without the people of Sumba.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe local villages, schools and community have embraced the project. Children are learning about reforestation from primary school onwards, and village leaders have helped identify planting sites across the island.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA special mention goes to Wira and our Indonesian team.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey make things happen in days and weeks, not years and committees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e6,000 trees won't save the planet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut they're a pretty good place to start.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Sean Bean's Major Sharpe would probably put it:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Right then... let's get those bloody trees planted.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bananaindustries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57344811368821,"sku":null,"price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0744\/7543\/8365\/files\/735608255_18604241416024667_7313806197273191197_n.jpg?v=1783506251","url":"https:\/\/www.bananaindustries.co.uk\/products\/plant-a-tree-on-sumba-island","provider":"bananaindustries","version":"1.0","type":"link"}