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. 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.