After a few months of preparation and waiting for the rains to return we are excited to have started our fruit tree donations again, starting with the West End Water Board who have received breadfruit, avocado, soursop, lemon, Jamaican apples, papaya, and mamon trees.

Our goal for the remaining months of the year is to donate 1000 fruit trees to communities throughout the island.

A big thanks to everyone who has made this happen, Karen Leahy, Salomé Fleming, Antonio Luks, everyone who has brought our Support Roatan T-shirts and supported our raffles earlier in the year which were made possible by the donations from Bananarama Resort, Island Pearl Beach Resort, Infinity Bay Spa & Beach Resort, Grand Roatan Caribbean Resort, Hacienda Caribe Tesoro Resort, West Bay Golf Club & Villas and Salt Life.

Thanks again and let the fruit tree planting begin.

WHAT’S NEXT?

While our fruit tree distribution takes place we begin fundraising for 2022, our goals are to plant another 1000 fruit trees from January to March with additional Roatan communities while sending some initial trees to the neighboring islands of Utila and Guanaja.

For the dry season months of April to October, we will move onto stage twoof the project where we begin to focus on follow-ups with communities who have received trees and expand our outreach work on tree maintenance and pruning for optimal future harvests. We will also begin working on stage threewhich is micro-business development.

Our initial product tests with breadfruit flour production have been positive and we aim to build and test our first commercial solar dehydrator in preparation for the mango crops of 2022. Solar dehydrators offer a lot of potential for preserving seasonal produce for future use while also enabling high volume production of breadfruit flour.

We are currently looking for corporate sponsors and partners to continue our projects and have already received some interest from Rotary Clubs and Regenerative Farms an International NGO that specializes in the development of community-based Regenerative Hubs for processing produce, eco by-product development, and community empowerment.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can support our initiatives please do not hesitate to contact us at info@supportroatan.com

OUR T-SHIRTS WHERE IT ALL STARTED

Since 2018 through our partnership with Wild Roatan, we have been selling t-shirts with community and conservation themes and donating all proceeds to grassroots community projects from beach clean-ups, food donations during the Covid lockdown to our fruit tree planting projects. It’s how Support Roatan started and continues to grow as the projects we support do.

A big thank you to everyone who has purchased our t-shirts and Wild Roatan for assisting to sell them.

Shop to SUPPORT ROATAN online at:
https://wildroatan.com/collections/usa-canada-tshirts-support-roatan
*Shipping is available to the USA and Canada.

WHY ARE WE PLANTING BREADFRUIT TREES

* Food Security: One breadfruit tree can assist to feed a family for up to 50 years, each tree can produce up to 300 fruits per year, with an average weight of 5 pounds, one tree can produce up to 1500 pounds of food mass per year. 

* Superfood: Breadfruit is a true superfood: gluten-free, high in protein and carbohydrates, low in fat, loaded with omegas, bursting with antioxidants and overflowing with folate, fiber and phytonutrients.

* Ecofriendly: More food produced in Roatan, helps reduce carbon food miles and the reliance on imported food. Breadfruit trees also help with carbon sequestration, climate change and improving conditions of the environment.

* Micro Business Development: Breadfruit trees offer numerous options for micro-business development and job creation. From growing breadfruit tree seedlings, pruning trees, fruit production to processing for local consumption or export markets. 

* UN Sustainable Development Goals: By planting breadfruit trees we address 5 of the worst performing SDGs in the Caribbean as suggested by data in the 2020 sustainable development report.
2 – Zero Hunger
6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
13 – Climate Action
14 – Life below Water
15 – Life on Land

Breadfruit has always been an important food source in Roatan, we are hoping to revive the interest in the modest, at times over-looked tree while developing community and economic benefits.

We thank you for your time and appreciate your interest and support.