Floresta, a Christian nonprofit organization, reverses deforestation and poverty in the world, by transforming the lives of the rural poor.
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 Community Development is the process of empowerment. This takes time, but results are profound and long lasting. Community development encourages poor farmers to take ownership of their own problems, and gives them the confidence to apply solutions. |
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| We Plant |
 Innovative Agriculture and Forestry enables farmers to make the best possible use of the resources that they already possess. We teach and promote agroforestry, reforestation, soil conservation, and a host of other sustainable techniques. |
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| We Create Enterprise |
 Credit helps people afford to progress beyond bare subsistence, as well as to diversify village economies. Micro-enterprise credit is the world’s most effective poverty fighter. |
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| We Share the Gospel |
 Discipleship occurs through the long-term relationships that are formed as the Floresta staff works with community leaders. The good news of Jesus is woven into much of what we do, but through the process of discipleship, people grow in their faith, and become servant leaders in their communities. |
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"After serving as a relief volunteer in the Dominican Republic, I realized that true development should not force people to rely on handouts and an unceasing flow of donations. People want an opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. Agroforestry and reforestation help accomplish this goal while restoring the productivity of the land " - Thomas Woodard, Founder
Floresta USA and its Dominican sister organization, Floresta Incorporada were founded in 1984, out of a new vision for economic development that would be sustainable and benefit the environment. Floresta sought to make lasting change through development that restored productivity to degraded land and dignity to the rural poor, while providing opportunities for upcoming generations.
Poverty and environmental degradation are intimately connected. Deforestation can be stemmed if it can be shown to be economically advantageous for the agents of deforestation to change their practices and restore their land. Similarly, poverty can best be addressed by providing long term opportunities for people to change their own situation. Spiritual and physical solutions are closely entwined. True development does not take place without spiritual renewal and an awakening to God’s grace. It is God who changes a person’s life and attitudes towards his or her neighbor, and allows communities to flourish. Economic development on its own can lead to further inequities, resentment and conflict. Also, without the gospel, eternal issues are neglected, "for what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but lose his soul." It must be emphasized, however, that the gospel is not forced on anyone, and is in no way a prerequisite for any of Floresta’s services.
Floresta was originally developed to meet the environmental, economic and spiritual needs of the rural people of the Dominican Republic. Currently there are over 2000 families who are benefiting from Floresta's program in Haiti, Mexico and the Dominican Republic: receiving loans, training in sustainable agriculture and reforestation, assistance in community organizing, capacity building, and marketing assistance.
Few organizations have so successfully wed economic, environmental and spiritual solutions to the problems of poverty and deforestation. Floresta has developed an economically sound, replicable model that will make a difference in many more lives, around the world.
One of the things that makes Floresta special is that we don’t just focus on treating the symptoms of environmental degradation and poverty, we work to solve the root causes. The second half of our mission statement, “We teach, we plant, we create enterprise and we share the gospel” reflects the four primary tools we use: Community Development, Innovative Agriculture and Forestry, Credit, and Discipleship.
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