Good Wood study

Our polyculture agroforestry plantations with plantains intercropped between rows of treesThe Union of Concerned Scientists recently released a study entitled Wood for Good (PDF), which discusses the most sustainable ways to produce timber and other wood products. This is one part of a series of reports on deforestation that previously identified commercial logging as one of the main drivers of deforestation.

One whole chapter in the report discusses where we as a society should be harvesting wood from. We were encouraged to see that one of their main recommendations is for polyculture systems with native tropical hardwoods. They cite a number of studies noting the environmental and production benefits such as more biomass, habitat, reduced need for fertilizer, and increased yields. Unfortunately, they note that polyculture systems are still rare compared to their distant cousin, the monoculture plantation.

The paper did note that monoculture plantations can be sustainable sources of wood products and pulp, but primary forest should never be cleared to make space for the plantation. Logging to make room for monoculture palm oil plantations is a leading driver of deforestation in Southeast Asia and a source of carbon emissions.

Their recommendations to protect water and reduce soil erosion, reduce chemical inputs, protect biodiversity, protect genetic resources, and plant on degraded land are all practices we implement as part of our Equitable Forestry model.

Finally, they note the importance of making forestry work for the communities living in or near the forests. Without offering communities sustainable alternative income generation activities, the clearing of forests will continue alongside the illegal logging.

Reforestation Strategies in Land Occupied by Foreign Grasses

A worker in Nuevo Paraiso clears brush with a machete prior to plantingIn some areas where we have reforested, the land had been previously planted with non-native grasses as fodder for cattle. We recently read a Mongabay post about restoring land previously planted with non-native grass through cultivating timber and other crops.

The paper, “Responses of transplanted native tree species to invasive alien grass removals in an abandoned cattle pasture in the Lacandon region, Mexico” by Román-Dañobeytia et al., found that successful reforestation on these lands is possible using natives species, but without continued suppression of the non-native grasses, high mortality rates may occur depending on the tree species.

Our experience confirms this finding. Whether it’s aggressive non-native grasses or just thick undergrowth, our native tropical hardwoods require frequent suppression competition to ensure low mortality rates. As the trees grow taller and start to shade out the undergrowth beneath them, suppression of competition becomes less important because the trees no longer need to compete for sunlight.

One practice used in the study to suppress the non-native grasses was burning the land before planting. Smallholders use slash and burn practices like this in the region where we work, but we decided to only clear the undergrowth and grasses with machetes before planting. When exercised in a controlled manner, the burning can return nutrients to the soil and reduce competition for the young trees, but the frequent rains in Panama erode away a lot of the nutrient-rich topsoil. Therefore, when we prepare land for planting our trees, we simply let the cleared undergrowth decompose in place and add its nutrients more gradually.

We’ve seen that certain species we planted compete better with the non-native grasses. Dalbergia retusa, in Panama called Cocobolo, has done the best with mortality and growth in our plantations with the aggressive non-native grass. It grows quickly, naturally bifurcates, and also fixes nitrogen, which gives it the ability to compete with the grasses while also recuperating the soils.

None of the native species in the study overlap with the species we plant, nor is the non-native grass the same, so a direct comparison with the study isn’t possible. However, we have found that, as in the study, suppression of non-native grasses is necessary for minimizing mortality rates. Additionally, the authors point out the need for maintaining the grasses during the dry season to reduce the drying out of the soil, something we have experienced, too.

We hope that researchers continue to pursue studies on this. Reforestation was the focus of the International Society of Tropical Foresters’ conference, held at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where we presented earlier this spring.

If you’re interested in learning more about reforestation using native species and its challenges, you can listen to the recorded conference presentations. Additionally, you can find more academic papers on the subject, especially about Panama, on our Studies and Analysis page.

Bringing It Together: An Integrated Forestry Company

We’re pleased to announce that Planting Empowerment and all of our trees in the ground are now one consolidated company. Before, we had set up a separate fund, or vintage, for each of the new plantings because it was the standard operating model for direct investment forestry companies in Panama, and effective for getting us off the ground. We began to realize, though, that at our small scale, it was going to be costly to continue this approach. Combining all of our assets under one company will enable us to raise capital more efficiently, reduce our operational costs and increase our positive affect on our community forestry partners and shareholders.

The consolidation should deliver the following benefits:

• Reduce administrative expenses (only one set of taxes, lawyers’ fees, etc.)
• Increase our ability to obtain debt financing to finance expansion
• Increase liquidity options in the medium to long term for our shareholders
• Increase awareness and understanding of our Equitable Forestry model

We often refer potential investors to the Investing Alternatively website for a description of the different types of forestry investments. Per their description, we are no longer a “Tree Certificate” type of forestry company--where the investors only own the trees on a certain piece(s) of land--but now a “Tropical Timber Company”: investors are shareholders of a fully integrated timber business, and able to benefit not only from the timber produced in the plots, but also any other activity that adds value such as milling, drying, and production of other crops. As we grow, we will continue to increase equity of the business, but also plan to pursue subsidized debt in order to avoid diluting our shareholders’ stakes.

In the end, while the consolidation of the business is important from a financial perspective, it is no less important than the social and environmental returns that it should facilitate for all of our community of shareholders and partners.

Mining Debate in Panama

Watch In Panama, 'New Conquistadors' Protest Canadian Copper Mines on PBS.
See more from PBS NewsHour.

Last night there was a report on the PBS NewsHour examining Canadian mining companies operating in Panama and the environmental impact of their mines on local communities.

As part of a larger project called “The New Conquistadors”, the piece profiled a subsistence farmer in the town of Coclecito, where a mining company is expanding a large gold mine. The piece covers the negative environmental effects that the open mines are reportedly having on downstream local communities, but also the benefits that the companies are pitching to those communities: schools, health centers and roads.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the report was the effect on local food production by subsistence farmers. According to the subsistence farmer interviewed, since the mining companies have been employing more and more local farmers, they have been importing more of the rice, beans, corn and coffee, that the farmers would traditionally grow themselves.

I was tempted to jump up on the soapbox—to discuss how our sustainable forestry model helps local farmers manage their land more effectively for short and long term benefits—but I’ll spare you. The mining companies are easy to go after and what we’re doing is different and doesn’t require a direct comparison.

We'll keep an eye on the mining debate in Panama, especially because it may indicate how the government will deal with indigenous land rights and environmental protection in the future.

Update From the Field

An aguacate de leche (milk avocado) for dinnerI recently returned from a week and a half in Panama, overseeing preparations for planting five hectares of tropical hardwood trees. Although we were a little behind due to the lack of rain and some unexpected operational snags, we did manage to clear the underbrush, square off the rows, and finish staking the planting spots.

The crew should finish planting the trees this week, so stay tuned for a full report, along with additional photos. In the meantime, check out our photos on Facebook to see the progress to date.