TIST
May 2007
CHEZHUMAI
Who may make discovery of a woman of virtue? For her price is much higher than jewels. She gives attention to the ways of her family, she does not take her food without working for it.
Women members, come forward and join in all the TIST activities, we will heal the ecology and out society.
All the upcoming new TIST Small Groups are requested to go through the important eligibility requirements.
Here are the main requirements that have to me met by Small Group to qualify for the TIST Program
1. There should be 6 to 12 members in your Small Group from at least 3 different families.
2. Each Small Group should have a minimum of 1,000 live trees within 1-year after joining the TIST program.
3. Each Small Group should have a minimum of 5,000 live trees within 5- years after joining the TIST program.
4. Your Small Group should replant trees that die, for any reason, each year for at least 20 years
5. All Small Groups should sign the Greenhouse Gas contract.
6. TIST will pay US$ 0.03 (Rs. 1.50) per live tree per year (please review Greenhouse gas contract for more details on payment)
7. Tree species that are treated as bushes or hedges (less than 4 meters tall) would not be counted as TIST trees.
8. Trees planted at a spacing of less than 2 meters will not be counted as TIST trees.
9. TIST will allow harvesting of live trees that are 10 years or older. However, total trees harvested in any year should not exceed 5% of the group’s total live trees.
10. Each Small Group should have less than 33% "short rotation trees" (example Eucalyptus). Present groups who have planted much more than 33% short rotation trees will have five years (until 2012) to plant additional trees and or harvest present trees until they meet this requirement.
11. TIST Small Groups should allow TIST quantifiers to come and quantify their trees once a year. Small Groups should organize with other Small Groups in their area to provide food and shelter for the quantifiers during these annual quantification visits.
12. Members of each Small Group should meet together to share ideas and best practices every week. If meeting every week is not possible then group members should meet at least once a month.
13. Small Group members should provide proof of land ownership or control for land where they have planted TIST trees.
14. Small Group members should participate in TIST training to help develop and share best practices with other TIST groups.
15. The area where your Small Group is located should have other Small Groups, that are all within walking distance of each other, that have planted a combined total of 100,000 live trees within 1-year with a potential to plant a combined total of 300,000 trees in 5-years.
2 meters gap between each Casuarina Tree
The members of the groups ask TIST India, why is it that, there should be 2 meters gap between each casuarinas tree?
Answer: As you all now that, TIST expects to provide long-term revenue for the Small Group participants through the sale of greenhouse gas credits (GhG). Let us see an example - One five year old casurina tree will be minimum 20-25 meters in height with 40-50 cm circumference. This is a normal growth where the spacing between the trees are 2 meters and above. One five-yearold tree of this normal growth would sequester minimum 0.01 ton of carbon. 100 trees would sequester 1 ton of carbon. Now if the casuarina trees are planted very closely (less than 2 meters), then the growth of the trees will certainly be very poor, in which case, the carbon sequestered by 100 casurarina trees will be less than 1 ton. When TIST India sells the carbon credits of 100 casuarina trees, the buyer who knows all about the carbon sequestering system, expects 1 ton of carbon credit from the 100 trees. We should not deceive our buyer by selling the carbon credits from very poorly grown trees and tell him that all the trees are of good growth. TIST India follows the standard methodology in calculating the carbon sequestered by each tree species. As per normal standard of CDM project, casuarina should be planted with 2 meters spacing.
Baseline Quantification
Baseline Quantification is nothing but collecting the information of the groves condition before TIST activity begun in that grove. Once the group informs the TIST officials where they would be planting trees, immediately, the quantifier conducts the baseline quantification on that land. There are two types of baseline quantification, (1) tree baseline and (2) grove baseline.
Tree baseline quantification: In this the quantifier quantifies on any existing trees inside the grove before the small group began planting TIST trees. For the new small groups, the quantifiers do this activity before the group begins planting TIST trees. For older groups that have already planted TIST trees, members are requested to help the quantifier identify trees that existed inside the grove area before the TIST trees were planted.
Grove baseline: In this the quantifier collects data on your land status like, topography of your land, soil colour, soil texture (clay, sand, salt), grove vegetation, and all about your land.
Small Group members are requested to cooperate with your quantifiers in carrying the baseline quantification.
December Small Group of Placepalayam
Placepalayam is the new area for TIST India. The Small Groups of this area have already started planting trees. December Small Group of Placepalayam have planted 30 Mango Trees with more than 10 meters spacing between each trees. In between the existing trees, during July, they would be planting few more mango trees, and several other multiple species of trees all around their groves. They are making use of their land completely in an effective way. Though the land here is rocky and clay type, still, the members have taken great effort in changing the land texture and planted trees, which is a great success.
Shriya Small Group of Mel Kodungalur
This Small Group was registered about 6 months back. They belong to kalankuthur Village, which falls under Mel Kodungalur Node Center. They have dedicated a flat open space for tree planting. There are more than 6580 casuarina trees in a grove called Gopi. They are planning to plant additional tree species during July 2007.
Training the Trainers
TIST India is looking for good trainers to train the members on the various activities. The Small Group leaders are requested to nominate one member from their group to become a trainer. Our Quantifiers and Coordinators are having discussions with all the Small Group members to collect inputs to design a best training module to train the Trainers. It will be a two days residential training workshop, which will be held at Chennai. Interested members can register their names to the TIST Officials immediately.
Maintain a Nursery
It is a good practice to maintain a nursery with multiple species of trees. Seedlings can be kept in the polythene bags for a period of 1-2 years. The members of Balaji Small Group of Mel Kodungalur are having the cotton seedlings for a longer period in the polythene bags before transplanting. They say that, when the seedlings have grown to good a height, and after which, if the transplanting is done, those newly planted trees will easily grow and can withstand the heat too. Wherever there is any causality due to over watering, cattle, drought, etc., in the trees, you can immediately replace it with the seedlings what you have been maintaining in your nursery.
The members of ArulparamJyothi Small Group of Vellaputur are maintaining a good nursery near their home. They take great care in maintaining these seedlings. The seedlings are not allowed to direct sunlight. The seedlings are kept near their home, so that, what every water they us of washing purpose is also utilized effectively for these seedlings. The seedlings are arranged according to their species, so that, there is no battle between the different species while growth. The waste from cow and buffalo is utilized in a great way as pesticides. These members avoid chemical pesticides, which restricts the yield.