HOW WE GIVE BACK

Here at PPCO we give back by donating Longleaf Pines to various organizations  in Georgia, USA. For every product purchased in our store we donate two pines trees to be planted on local Georgia properties. Since the beginning of our donations we have helped plant 6,000 trees and that number is only growing each day! 

WHY WE CHOSE LONGLEAF PINE:

We chose the Longleaf variety of the pine species because of its ecological benefits. The Longleaf variety provides habitat for wildlife, it's one of the most valuable landscapes to wildlife. The coniferous tree can live for 300-400 years, and has needlelike leaves that are nearly eighteen inches long. Longleaf pine forests have a more open canopy, allowing sunlight onto the forest floor for grasses, herbs and wildflowers to grow for wildlife to live and feed. This openness creates a forest floor where plants such as many-flowered grass pinks, trumpet pitcher plants, venus flytraps, lavender ladies, and pineland bogbuttons grow. In fact, up to fifty species of wildflowers, grasses, shrubs and ferns can be found in a single square yard, providing food and shelter for a variety of wildlife. Some researchers estimate that the longleaf pine ecosystem is one of the most diverse outside of the Tropics. 

The biggest threat facing wildlife is habitat loss, and the South is no exception from its peril. Due to the open canopy that allows native plants to flourish, longleaf pine habitats are some of the most biodiverse and important natural areas in the United States. Twenty-nine species on the Federal threatened or endangered lists are found in these forests, however these pine forests are one of the most endangered landscapes in North America. Some of the wildlife that can be found in a longleaf pine ecosystem include but are not limited to: Red-cockaded woodpecker, Northern bobwhite quail, Gopher tortoise, (the only native tortoise east of the Mississippi River), Bachmann’s sparrow, Flat-wood salamanders, Eastern wild turkey, Prairie warblers, Eastern indigo snake, White-tailed deer, Pinewoods tree frogs, fox squirrel.

By purchasing our products you help reforest our communities and also help preserve wildlife habits in the USA. It's one small thing we all can do to help the communities that we love.