FAQs

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the cornerstone of all human development and life on Earth. Biodiversity encompasses all the varied forms of existence, including 8 million species of plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria, as well as the ecosystems that support them and the genetic diversity among them. The strength of the whole depends upon this variety and interdependency.  When one component is impacted, the entire system is affected. If biodiversity is increased, our collective web becomes stronger. If biodiversity is weakened or lost, it’s bad news for the whole — i.e., all of us.

Why does Biodiversity matter?

Biodiversity is necessary for maintaining balance in our global ecosystem, and in all local ecosystems on the planet. Healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters and contribute greatly to our overall productivity and progress.  Biodiversity purifies and protects our water, stores nutrients in our soil, breaks down and absorbs pollution, helps stabilize the climate, and speeds recovery from natural disasters. Nature’s biodiversity is also essential to most industries and livelihoods.

Is Biodiversity in danger?

Roughly 18 million acres of forest are lost each year. 70% of the world’s known species are at risk of extinction, if global temperature rise isn’t curtailed. 75% of agricultural crop diversity has been lost. 75% of fisheries are over exploited. One-third of coral reefs are threatened with extinction.  350 million people don’t have access to water.

When we destroy biodiversity, we destroy the safety net that supports human life. By upsetting the delicate balance of nature, we have created ideal conditions for severe weather that threatens lives and economies, as well as for pathogens like coronaviruses to spread.

How SUGi builds biodiversity?

We are the bridge between you and a wonderful community of Forest Makers and Ocean Gardeners, who are actively restoring healthy ecosystems around the world. We make it possible for anyone to invest in this critical work with as little as a $5 contribution. When you join our community of biodiversity builders, your investment enriches the entire SUGi ecosystem — your subscription or one time contribution grows along with other individual contributions and those of our brand partners. Together, the SUGi web grows stronger and more dense, as does the biodiversity of our forests!

What does it mean to ‘Invest in Nature’ with SUGi?

When you invest in SUGi, you are underwriting the restoration of SUGi’s 9 Key Elements of Biodiversity: healthy species, water, land & sea forests, plants, soil, and air, as well as the reduction in your carbon footprint and positive social impact. Every dollar invested boosts the yield of “the SUGi 9” and grows the interconnected benefits of a web of terrestrial and aquatic forests. That may sound complicated, but it’s really very simple. Think of it the way different coins add up to a single dollar.

How is SUGi different from monoculture tree planting?

SUGi forests are specially designed to build biodiversity.  Our global network of land forest makers create ultra-dense, biodiverse forests of native species only using a proven Japanese technique called the Miyawaki method. These forests are 100% natural, 30x denser and 100x more biodiverse than conventional tree plantations and grow very quickly. Many organisations solely plant, non-native, tree species in monoculture, in remote sites. These projects have minimal social impact with an acute lack of transparency on their growth and long term environmental impact. SUGi instead is radically transparent. We maximize social and biodiversity impact.

What about other global efforts?

SUGi is an official partner of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which highlights the need for much greater global cooperation to restore degraded and destroyed ecosystems, in order to combat climate change and safeguard biodiversity, food security, and water supply. This bold step recognizes that the widespread loss of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems will be catastrophic for our planet and a huge setback on progress made towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. SUGi will be an active champion of and contributor to this global campaign. SUGi also collaborates closely with Voice for Nature and Restor by Crowther Lab.

If I subscribe, can I cancel anytime?

Yes, you can cancel or change your subscription anytime through your user profile.

Do I have to subscribe to donate?

No, you can make a one-time investment in building biodiversity on our website, if you prefer that to making a monthly commitment.

Can I make a tax-free donation in the USA?

Absolutely! We have an active SUGi Foundation. Email us to hello@sugiproject.com and we'll provide you the needed information.

How can I volunteer?

You can send us an email to hello@sugiproject.com mentioning which project in particular that might interest you and we will connect you with the Forest Maker.

The SUGi App?

We have sunsetted the original SUGi App. To keep pace with this tremendous growth and our high-touch storytelling about each forest, we’ve taken the decision to focus all our energies and resources on the SUGi website as the mode of engagement with our community. You’ll find all you need to keep up with us and our pocket forests and forest makers right here at www.sugiproject.com.