Earth Sangha

Founded in 1997, the Earth Sangha is a nonprofit public charity based in the Washington, DC, region. Our mission is ecological restoration as a form of socially engaged Buddhism. Although we work in the spirit of Buddhist practice, our volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and our work is secular and science-based. In the DC area, we operate a volunteer-based program to propagate local native plants, restore native plant communities, and control invasive alien plants. Our Wild Plant Nursery is the region's most comprehensive effort to propagate native plants directly from local forests and meadows. On the island of Hispaniola, along the Dominican Republic – Haiti border, we operate the Tree Bank Hispaniola, a partnership between the Earth Sangha and the Asociación de Productores de Bosque, Los Cerezos. The Tree Bank propagates local native trees, conserves tropical forest, and promotes sustainable agroecological practices. The second branch of the Tree Bank program is called Tree Bank Panama. In northwestern Panama, we work with the Naso, one of several indigenous peoples who live in that region. Our goal is to look for practical ways to improve Naso livelihoods while preserving Naso forests and rivers.