Tree planting campaign 2008-2009

Our additions to the Living Seed Bank for the planting season of late 2008 to April 2009 include over 1000 tree seedlings.  Species include rare, undomesticated fruit trees from the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, such as lucuma and charichuelo; huayruro trees providing iconic bead-like seeds used extensively in local crafts; and significant plantings of some of the most important timber trees of the Amazon: mahogany, ironwood, pau d'arco, and Spanish cedar.  This year we will also plant over a hundred specimens of one of the tropical world's most important timber trees and a mainstay of Latin American reforestation programs: teak. 

This year's reforestation efforts will employ four locals at fair wages.  Jobs include:

• transportation of seedlings from nurseries in Puerto Maldonado to our center in Baltimori, a seven hour boat ride away
• clearing the brush from previously deforested areas at our center to make room for the new trees
• planting and marking the trees
• maintenance of the planted area involving the regular clearing of weed growth

Each year's planting campaign also includes the preparation of plants from seed for the coming year.  This year we secured over a thousand seeds of the often-felled, rarely-planted timber tree known as moena alcanforada.  Over the course of the coming year, these young seedlings will be nurtured and cared for until they reach planting size at a nursery run by the Peruvian government's Institute for Research in the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP). 

• Living Seed Bank