Kew Botanical Gardens
Kew Gardens is the world’s largest collection of living plants. Founded in 1840 from the exotic garden at Kew Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, UK, its living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. It is one of London’s top tourist attractions. In 2003, the gardens were put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.. We are working in partnership with Kew Gardens to establish new projects in Madagascar and the Congo. Our work at the Inga Foundation is based on Inga Alley Cropping, a sustainable alternative to slash-and-burn farming. As Inga species are only native to South and Central America, it would be irresponsible to introduce Inga as an exotic elsewhere in the world. Therefore, in order to expand our work to other regions of the tropics, we must first identify local species that can play the same role for us in the other tropical regions as Inga does in Central and South America. The knowledge and experience of Kew Gardens have been valuable in this regard in both Madagascar and the Congo.
The Eden Project
As well as being Cornwall’s most famous eco-tourism attraction, The Eden Project is also a charity and social enterprise. The Inga Foundation’s Director, Mike Hands, has had links with Eden for a number of years. The Eden Project created an exhibit about Inga Alley Cropping in their Tropical Biome. The Inga trees used were grown from seeds brought back from Honduras in April 2012 by Mike Hands. After 6 months in quarantine, the young Inga trees were planted out in alleys in the Tropical Biome the following autumn and are now growing well.
Notion Pictures
Notion Pictures is a production company established in 2007 by Adam Wakeling. Notion Picture’s documentaries deal with big environmental and social issues and it was Notion Pictures which created Up In Smoke – the multi award-winning documentary following our Director, Mike Hands, and his 25-year struggle to stop slash and burn.
Adam Wakeling also produced 5 short films for Oxfam’s GROW campaign which show how Inga Alley Cropping can have huge benefits for both people and the environment. Most recently, Adam has created a didactic or ‘How To’ film which demonstrates how to use the Inga Alley Cropping method. The film has been dubbed into multiple languages and will be used to help spread knowledge of Inga Alley Cropping to more slash-and-burn farmers across Central and South America.
APE: Artists Project Earth
In the past we have been supported by Artist Project Earth. APE funds projects around the world that work to combat climate change and develop local solutions; they have contributed funds to support our work in Honduras.