Project Hometree, La Tejona, Costa Rica

We had many visitors at La Reserva during the month of July. One family, long time supporters of LRFF, came for two days of hiking in the reserve. On Friday, they revered Papa Loco, saw and heard many monkeys and birds. That night we all shared pizzas and played cards.

This family came to La Reserva in Costa Rica for the first time in July of 2007 as tourists. The three boys were younger, the youngest unable to make the entire hike with his mother. The father was so inspired that he went back home in the U.S. came out of retirement and began a carbon offset company. Now, three years later, his company has many qualified employees and is, in fact, two different companies working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy projects, forestry and a new digital grid system for energy use reduction.

On Saturday morning we went over to the seedling nursery. I explained that we can’t plant more trees in the nursery until we have a project to plant them on because over time they become rooted in the soil at the bottom of the bags and are damaged when removed from the nursery. The 8000+ individuals currently in the nursery are waiting to be planted in Project Hometree when it is funded. We have three months of planting season left. Mom and Dad put their heads together and said they would like to finish the funding on this project enabling us to get planting right away.

As we wait for their donation and the ensuing “success” progress report, here are a few photos of our friend, Heather Armstrong, who volunteered at La Reserva in June. She is largely responsible for the healthy new inventory at the La Reserva nursery. Omar La Reserva’s nursery manager, was her best buddy, teaching her about collecting tropical trees and their propagation.

It is imperative this project be planted by November this year. It is 8 hectares of reforestation and in 5 years will be a young viable forest, responsible for sequestering a minimum of 120 metric tons of CO2 per year from our Earth’s atmosphere. The trees in the nursery, the animals in the existing forest wanting to increase and all of us, the volunteer planters, are waiting for YOU, our supporters, to help us implement this project.

Links:

• Project Hometree
• Great Reviews from volunteers and supporters

The rains have begun in Costa Rica. It’s the perfect time for planting trees. Unfortunately the 8 hectares in this project can’t be planted until something is done about the African grasses that dominate the pasture. One option would be to spray the whole field with herbicides, but that would have a negative environmental impact on the area, including inhibiting the growth of newly planted trees. In addition, there are any number of animals who have made their homes in the dense matt of grasses. We don’t want to wipe out their entire habitat with poisons.

The alternative, therefore, is to use manual labor to clear multiple swaths across the field wide enough to allow young trees to grow to the point where they will out-compete the grasses. This tactic allows for a period of transition in which the species populating the area will gradually shift. It is also labor-intensive and time-consuming. We estimate it will take over a month to create enough clear space that the trees planted will be able to thrive. Of course, it will also create much-needed jobs for locals. (As in the United States, the down-turn of the economy has left many local people searching for work.)

Your help with this project will accomplish two goals. It will help provide jobs and it will begin the transformation of the last large open field on the La Reserva property back to native forest. HEADS UP! Next Wednesday, June 16th from 12 midnight to 11:59pm Global Giving will be matching all donation up to $1000/donor/project. Give a generous donation to Project Hometree on that day and remind your friends as well. Just think if you can only afford to donate $10 that donation will be $15, plus we don’t have to pay GG the 15% commission on these matching funds.

Links:

• Warm and Fuzzy
• The Avatar/Hometree connection with LRFF
• LRFF Strategy