Hauling Trees

There are two viveros, or tree nurseries, that Friends of the Osa has operated in the past.  These have gone in and out of operation depending on the organizational capacity and program funding.  As part of our land management plan, we'll be removing plantation woods such as teak and pochote, and reforesting with native trees.  I'm hoping that we'll be able to revive one of the viveros permanently, raising a wide range of trees that will include purple heart, cristobal, and walking palm.  

What you find is that when a tree is desirable, it is often in danger of being over-exploited by humans.  For example, purple heart is an almost unbelievable purple color and a very solid wood while cristobal is known for its rich, dark grain.  In the past, and even today, people will search specifically for these trees, cut them down and not even think about replanting.  In the case of the walking palm, there are two species that I know of.  The most abundant species isn't edible while the species that people prefer to eat... you guessed it, is becoming harder to find every day.

One way to avoid these species disappearing would be to create plantations.  If you're in the business of building furniture with purple heart, you plant a whole bunch of purple heart.  The problem with this approach, however, is that while maintaining that particular species, you've undoubtedly lost much more valuable habitat and incalculable amounts of biodiversity as a single-species plantation simply can't support a dynamic ecological system as a mature mixed forest will.

This year's dry season has been one of the driest that people can remember.  That's all I've heard since I've been here, from everybody I meet.  

"Esta seco, pero muy seco."  It's so dry.  

And it really is.  You see signs everywhere you look.  Manuel says that the terciopelos (fer-de-lance) are all hanging out closer to the rivers than normal; and the rivers are much shallower at this time compared to other years.  The road is so thick with dust that it rises up behind and trucks and settles on the forest's edge.  

So when I went to see the vivero at Rio Piro and learned that there was no water, I knew that we would have to move the saplings up to Cerro Osa.  Cheryl and I loaded about 200 trees into the bed of the little, beat up Toyota pick-up and hauled them up the hill to the vivero on Cerro Osa.  Juan and Augustin helped us unload them and within minutes had a sprinkler showering them with water.

I'm excited to see how they're doing tomorrow when I head up again to meet with the group that's visiting.  I'm even more excited to keep the momentum going with the native tree propagation and planting program.  There's so much potential to work with young students, community groups, eco-lodges and tourists to spread the word about the benefits of trees.  I don't know how much progress we'll be able to see this year, but I do know that every tree we plant will make a difference.