Voting period ends Feb 2, 2011! Please help spread the positive word using the resources provided below. Photos may be used freely, please credit ‘Ridge to Reef Farm’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1/20/11 Press Release NGS Ridge to Reef Jan 20
CONTACT: Nate Olive, Program Director
Ridge to Reef Farm
VI Sustainable Farm Institute
(706) 206-0328, (340) 220-0466
nate@visfi.org, www.visfi.org
Delyse Sylvester
Ashoka’s Changemakers
(250) 352-0616, (250) 551-0570
dsylvester@ashoka.org
Web: http://tinyurl.com/6g4h867
RIDGE TO REEF FARM’S HERITAGE & FOOD SECURITY INITIATIVE SELECTED AS TOP U.S. CONTENDER IN GLOBAL NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE
VOTING OPENS TO SELECT BEST IDEAS AROUND GLOBE FOR SUSTAINABLE COASTAL DEVELOPMENT AS SMALL ISLAND’S ‘WORLD IN A WATERSHED’ NAMED FINALIST
*See attached press release from Ashoka
FREDERIKSTED, ST CROIX (January 21, 2011) – Twelve days remain in an open on-line voting process to see which country’s innovative initiatives will be named winner of National Geographic’s 2010-2011 sustainable development challenge entitled “Places on the Edge: Saving Coastal Destinations.” Ridge to Reef Farm (R2R), the operational food and education component of the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute (VISFI), was selected out of over 250 entries from 54 countries, and may win the challenge for the United States’ territorial island of St. Croix if enough votes are cast. It was the only US project or Caribbean island to be selected in the contest.
“We are totally shocked and excited for such an honor. As we represent the Virgin Islands and the U.S. in this initiative, we need not lose site that we are primarily representing small family farmers with new value-adding methods, and precious endangered corals and the fisheries they support,” said Nate Olive, VISFI Program Director and creator of the R2R initiative. He added, “Nature does not function by political boundaries, but rather the geography of place. We can see in a small-scale healthy watershed how beneficial relationships can be cultivated to meet human needs while also keeping ecosystems in balance. Therefore, peacemaking across human boundaries is essential, and tourism is the perfect vehicle to bring people together. Why not make it a rewarding travel experience for both visitor and destination? A growing number of people out there feel the Earth is in trouble and want to become healing forces instead of polluters. We have moved from ‘save the earth’ to ‘save the watershed’. If we can save the watersheds on a workable scale, then we stand a chance to accomplish some much bigger goals collectively. Ridge to Reef is an adventure in doing this. Most of our guests don’t like to call themselves ‘tourists.’ Like our modern society and economy, the definition of that dirty word is rapidly changing.”
Ridge to Reef Excursions are designed to convert the energetic inputs from tourism into calories of sustainably grown food for the benefit of host vegetative, marine, and human communities across a local watershed scale. At the tropically lush 100% solar VISFI facility, visitors learn organic permaculture farming skills and then use them at local sustainable farms and community gardens. Excursions for locals and visitors alike range from guided farm watershed hikes to immersion weeks like Beneficial Farmer Training, Permaculture, Bush Skills, Art of Mentoring, and volunteer retreats from clients such as the Sierra Club and Overland Summers. Ridge to Reef Farm is the base of activities, from where 3 mile bio-hikes are led down historic riparian sanctuaries past the shoreline into coral reef habitat and through a rich heritage of agricultural lore, both ancient and modern, along the way. An expanding open source web-based local marketplace (www.vi.locallygrown.net) supports 12 sustainable growers and craft producers to serve the territory’s only local source of certified organic produce and innovative value-added tourism products.
The program uses adventure hikes and a mix of ancient and modern farming practices as an example of how coastal development can be used to enhance the area and its downstream ecosystems while nurturing culture and increasing food security for the larger community. R2R has a long list of annual immersion excursions such as the Beneficial Farmer Training (9/7-11/9), Art of Mentoring (1/31-2/5), and Bush Skills Rendezvous (3/3-3/6), and Farm Stays. Caribbean BBQs and outdoor concerts celebrate over 90% local food served and a diversity of visitors. In all of what the World in a Watershed initiative does, visitors learn skills to grow organic food in an agroforestry system, cook with ingredients straight from the fields, caretake natural areas and forests, and practice mentoring with others. Read the complete entry at http://tinyurl.com/6g4h867.
“These are promising, innovative business models that will reshape the future of destination travel,” said Dana Wells, president of Ashoka, who co-sponsored the Geotourism Challenge. “They provide opportunities for development along coasts and waterways that respects the environment and the culture and lifestyles of the local residents.”
National Geographic & Ashoka News Release 1/19/11
Entry into 2010 Changemakers Competition: Geotourism Challenge 2010: Places on the Edge – Saving Coastal and Freshwater Destinations To vote, read more on the competition, start or join an online discussion, visit the website.
Vote for Ridge to Reef in the Geotourism Challenge!
 Ridge to Reef Farm's Organic Produce |
 Reaching the shore after hiking Caledonia Gut during a rain |
 Ridge to Reef Caledonia Gut HIke to the Coast, 2011 |
 Farm Programs |
 Nate Olive Natural Mentors |
 Tumeric Harvest |
 Hands-on Ridge to Reef Educational Excursions |
 Finalist Nate Olive, Ridge to Reef Farm/VISFI Program Director |
