Balsawood bust and parallels to Cocobolo in Panama

Cocobolo wood

In a recent edition of the Economist, I read about a boom-bust scenario related to the harvest of Balsa wood for wind turbine blades. Hordes of loggers converged on previously uninteresting indigenous communities searching for Balsa wood, and those who could help them find it and log it. After booming for a little over a year though the bust finally came and left behind environmental and societal scars. 

Panama’s Darien region—where Planting Empowerment’s forests are located—suffered a similar boom-bust related back in 2012-2013. Outsiders bulldozed into the forest searching for Cocobolo (Rosewood), eventually leading to a clash between illegal loggers and indigenous leaders that left a logger and patrol member dead. We remember seeing Rosewood trees ripped out of the earth, even the roots, to get every bit of the blood-colored heartwood used for making fine furniture and instruments.

Rosewood is not cultivated widely in plantations, and it takes a lot longer than Balsa trees to reach harvestable size. Balsa has a significant amount of plantations dedicated to its production in Ecuador and only takes 5-7 years before harvest. 

Part of the reason for the Balsa bust was the creation of a synthetic foam that replaced the use of Balsa in windmill blades. This foam has the potential to reduce the long term demand for Balsa wood, meaning less Balsa is cultivated, and increased likelihood of the available land to convert into cattle pasture. From our perspective, we would rather see sustainable economic demand for Balsa wood (meaning trees growing and carbon eventually locked up in windmill blades) than have the demand replaced with a synthetic alternative. While a monoculture Balsa plantation isn’t as good as a forest, it is much better than cattle pasture and we would hate to see the plantations converted to cattle pasture for lack of demand.

For the moment, the Balsa market seems to have corrected itself, and we hope that Balsa wood can be produced at scale sustainably. Controlling the hordes and intermediaries looking for a quick buck will be key.

March 2020 Field Update

I recently returned from a visit to Panama and Planting Empowerment’s forests (we call them forests and not plantations because of our mixed species and community-centric approach). I’m happy to report that our planted forests—the oldest are now 13 years old—are showing good growth and their individual characteristics are becoming more prominent. I also caught up with Yem Dogirama, one of our long time field technicians who cares for the trees and keeps an eye on things.

Our oldest forests are now past their half way mark and the trees definitely have attained girth and height. The Teak in general are the tallest and are now filling their trunks out, but the “Yellow wood” or Amarillo are as tall and wide as the Teak. The Mahogany trees have really taken off in the last couple of years, too, and their canopies are completely shading the undergrowth below them.

From a biodiversity stand point, I spotted a young hawk perched midway up one of our trees, studying me as I approached it. I came to the base of the tree and he didn’t fly away—he was probably confused as to what I was doing in his hunting territory. 

Yem expressed his excitement about the fruiting of the Almendro or “almond trees.” The indigenous communities collect the seeds, boil them, and basically make a nut butter from them. It’s considered quite the delicacy. The animals also really like them and you can see the remnants of their feasts under the trees. 

Disappointingly, the Zapatero or “shoe maker” trees continue to die off. For some reason that we’ve never discovered, this species acquires a fungus, which attacks the tree aggressively and ends up killing it in about 6 months. They were quick growing and beautiful trees, so I hate to see the dead trunks and holes in the forest where they used to be. On a positive note, the birds are using them for nesting, so it’s not wasted space and we can feel good about supporting more bird habitat. We still have a couple left in each forest and I hope they can survive so we can collect those surviving examples’ seeds for future plantings.

We do not have a full-time team staff in Panama any more because our planted forests do not require full-time work. I’ve been pleased to hear from our longtime workers—now part-time—that they’re really invested in the success of our forests and take pride in how big some of the trees are. They of course have put in the most work to ensure that the trees are thriving. Because they work now full-time in other monoculture Teak forests, they appreciate the different approach we’ve taken. 

Thanks again for your support and as always, please do let us know when you might be in Panama as our operations are always open for visits. 

Collaborating with Furch Guitars to support Indigenous community’s rosewood plantation

Earlier this year we received an email from Furch Guitars—a premium quality acoustic guitars maker in the Czech Republic—inquiring about our native species forests. Furch is interested in ensuring the sustainability of the hardwoods used in its guitars, namely Rosewood (dalbergia retusa) and Mahogany (swietenia macrophylla). They agreed to finance the maintenance of a Rosewood plantation belonging to our partner community Arimae.

Rosewood and Mahogany are found in some of our partner community Arimae’s newer forestry plots. We were instrumental in helping Arimae establish its four hectare (about nine acres) Rosewood plantation in 2010 through a grant from the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grant Program (GEF SGP). A smaller and neighboring Mahogany plantation had been established by the community itself about 8-10 years earlier. The community considers these plantations one of their investment strategies.

The proceeds of the GEF SGP grant covered the costs of maintaining the Rosewood plantation for a year, but when the funds ran out Arimae couldn’t perform the subsequent weeding and pruning. The community did not have its own resources to pay for the maintenance because of legal bills associated with securing its formal land title. We helped over the years by cleaning the plantation and planting plantains, whose frequent cleanings also benefited the Rosewood trees. When the plantain project ended a couple of years ago, competing vegetation once again began to hinder the Rosewood trees’ growth.

With the support from Furch Guitars, Arimae cleared competing vegetation from between the Rosewood trees and pruned the trees of excessive branched. The cleanings ensure vines don’t inhibit the trees’ growth, and that pioneer trees don’t outcompete the Rosewood for sunlight. The pruning improves the future quality of the wood by reducing knots while also encouraging the tree to grow taller and straighter.

Our conservative estimate is that the four hectare Rosewood plantation adds annually about 26 cubic meters of harvestable timber annually. That amount is more than what Furch Guitars currently uses, so the company is being extra judicious in its support to ensure it grows a sufficient amount of Rosewood for the future.

Before we started finalizing any agreement with Furch, we first discussed with the community of Arimae to ensure its interest and secure its consent. Community members from Arimae receive competitive pay to do all of the cleaning and pruning work—an additional benefit coming from the collaboration. PE and the community of Arimae want to thank Furch Guitars for the support and hope the collaboration is of the long term kind.

Two resources for native species reforestation in Panama

A couple of years ago the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) published a “how to” guide to reforestation using native species in Panama in hardcover. They recently released the publication in digital form. This report summarizes the findings of STRI’s effort to identify commercially viable native timber species and increase adoption of these species among farmers and forestry project promoters.  

STRI researchers also released another paper that looks at mixed native species plantations’ growth rates for 5 species: yellow wood (Terminalia Amazonia), rosewood (Dalbergia Retusa), spiny cedar (Pachira Quinata), espave sp. (Anacardium Excelsum), and tropical oak (Tabebuia rosea). This paper is relevant to us because all 5 species are present in our plantations (the espave and tropical oak occur naturally). Interestingly, the study finds that each of the species yielded more biomass when planted together (mixed plantations) than when they were planted as monocultures. The yellow wood did best--something we’ve seen anecdotally in PE’s plantations.

We were happy to see that for the most part our plantations implemented all of the best practice guidance now catalogued in this new guide.

Panama, and especially the Darién, desperately need more native species restoration, so we are pleased about these two new resources. All of the species Planting Empowerment planted in our mixed native species plantations are considered in one or both of these resources, and we will continue to measure our plantations and share the results so that others can learn from our experience.

Our operations are open to the public, so if you’re ever going to be in Panama or visiting the Darien, just send us a note and we can arrange for a tour.

April Site Visit with Friends and Update

I was recently in Panama for a conference on Forests and Climate Change at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and took the opportunity to visit Planting Empowerment’s operations in Arimae and Nuevo Paraiso.

My flight path into Panama City took me from the NW corner in Bocas del Toro over the central provinces of Veraguas and Cocle before landing in Panama City. Below, smoldering patches of land dotted the deep green forests, reminding me that April still is the time in Panama when farmers burn their fields in preparation for rainy season planting. Kind of a depressing way to start the trip, but at least I was going to visit Planting Empowerment’s plantations where trees are growing on land that was once also charred and bare.

Colleagues from the Environmental Defense Fund, Conservation International, and the World Wildlife Fund all joined me on the trip. They work on tropical forest conservation at a global level, so it was a treat for them to see an example of sustainable forestry in the field (not just read about it from a case study).

The road out to the Darien was probably in the best shape I’ve seen it in years with only a couple sections suffering from potholes, and those were even quite small compared to previous years.

Mateo (far left) with Planting Empowerment employees in Nuevo Paraiso.

I had one important errand to execute while visiting our partner community Arimae. Sadly, one of our former field managers Mateo Johnson passed away unexpectedly in February. In his memory, we decided to make a $500 contribution to the community, and I consulted with Arimae’s chiefs on how to put the contribution to best use. The chiefs consulted the community and we all agreed on supporting some of their recent legal costs incurred for evicting some squatters from their territory. Mateo was always passionate about supporting Arimae’s efforts to secure their land title, so we felt this was a good way to memorialize him.

My colleagues and I didn’t have much time, so started early in the morning visiting the tree plantations in Arimae. Long time collaborator and Arimae resident Yem Dogirama guided us with his trusty machete and answered all of our questions. The plantations there had been recently “cleaned”--undergrowth vegetation cleared by hand with machete--in preparation for a needed pruning happening this month. The low undergrowth made it slightly easier for us to navigate through the plantations, and allows for easier pruning. Pruning of the trees happens at the end of the dry season right before the rains hit and the trees turn on their growth engines.

Howler monkeys playing in the trees

We were able to pass through three different plantations in Arimae (planted in 2007, 2008, and 2012) to see the differences in age and also the numerous native species mix used in our model. On our way out to the Darien, we saw the monoculture Teak plantations that are almost as common as cattle pasture now. The visitors were impressed with the visual difference of biodiversity between our plantations and the monoculture Teak ones.

After Arimae, we moved quickly to Nuevo Paraiso to visit the remaining two plantation sites. Despite one of my colleagues puncturing her hand on Spiny Cedar tree, we made it through the two sites and even saw a troupe of Howler monkeys resting in the branches of one of our Amarillo trees (terminalia amazonia). A real treat to seem them up close.

Overall, the plantations and the communities seem to be doing well.

If you are ever in Panama and interested in seeing our operations, please do let us know as setting up a tour is not that difficult. Thanks to the improved road, the plantations are only a 3-hour drive from the airport/Panama City. Seeing the trees really is inspirational and photos do not do them justice. We hope to host you soon!

The Forests and Climate Change conference was great, and I was able to catch up with Dr. Jefferson Hall, one of STRI’s tropical forestry researchers and author of a great book on reforestation in the tropics. During the conference there was much discussion about the need for reforestation and its importance, not only for climate change mitigation, but also the essential services forests provide like watershed protection and livelihoods for local communities.

An evening reception held at Panama’s premier Ecolodge the Canopy Tower--owned by one of Planting Empowerment’s investors--provided us with great birding and views of ships passing through the Panama Canal from the literal tree tops.