ACTION

GUIDELINES

We need to change the ways of developing, our interaction with Gaia[i], through the following basic points:

[i] In Greek mythology, Gaia (from Ancient Greek Γαῖα, a poetical form of "land" or "earth"), also spelled Gaea is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life.

A photo of a suburban street in Miami with yellow flowering trees

DIRECT ACTIONS OR CONSULTING

Reforestation. Plant trees in cities (urban gardening).

How do we do it: We work with local authorities to pick the places.

We work with donations to buy the trees.

We pick the right trees where we work, prioritizing locally adapted trees, and fruit trees. In other countries, we not only try to increase the amount of trees for carbon capture, but to help with nutrition. Our target countries out of the US are mostly Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.

Creation of environmentally friendly surfaces.

How do we do it: We work with the private sector. Our goal is to start making an impact in parking lots to facilitate water infiltration. Over the years we have witnessed the impact of having so much concrete in our cities, and developments, but that has to change.

We supervise their work and provide advice.

RESEARCH

We will continue to conduct the scientific projects, our Project on the Calculation of Biomass, and Carbon Stock on street trees, trees in parks, and trees parking lots.

Study Cases. The amount of Biomass/ Carbon stock that we have found in the Saint Thomas University Campus forest (Total Biomass based on our measurements is 561,428.30 Kg, and Total Carbon Stock stored is 280,714.17 Kg)[i], in Miami Gardens, and more recently in the Amelia Earhart Park, in Hialeah (Overall biomass was of 2,825,751.80 Kg, and Carbon Stock ca. 1,328,104 Kg), lead us to think that we must go on with the inventory of biomass/carbon on city trees.

To calculate biomass and carbon stock, we are using allometric equations widely used in the scientific literature for this purpose.

How do we do it:

With our technical guidance, and using donations, or projects, we will pay our environmental leaders to pursue that path.

[i] Perez, A.M., Cendan, L., Maul, D.P., & Cottiere, S. 2022. Aboveground biomass and carbon stock in an urban forest within the St. Thomas University campus, Miami Gardens. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research.

a photo of a leafy red flowering tree on a street in a suburb in Miami

a photo of young students standing in a park

EDUCATION

Gaia Learning is going to host a short set of Key courses, that so far are the following:

Environmental Science: For a general public.
The Measurement of Biodiversity: For Senior students of Biology, Ecology, Environmental Science, Environmental Planning or Geography.
Biostatistics: Same target group as the prior.

OUTREACH

We will create awareness at different levels.

How do we do it:

We are developing courses, and workshops, and will provide scholarships to young environmental leaders on conservation.

We will conduct a series of lectures, and publish outreach papers in our Occasional Journal, Gaia, and in our website. We will continue to give workshops in our target countries, and in different communities of the State.

For the outreach component we will partner up with cities and counties of the State.