Comments on: Peru begins reforestation, 60 million trees to be planted

By: julian Griffin

julian Griffin — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 19:28:02 +0000

Look at other successful reforestation projects, that integrate agroforestry and permaculture plants and systems in to the plan.
Plants with multi uses(food,medicine,materials nitrogen fixing etc..) That is the way to build a abundant future for local peoples.
Hawaii is planted with eucalyptus, in big mono crop block, nothing else can grow,it has brought drought etc.. this does nothing for local people but manipulate there local environment with a single tree,for limited uses,fuel!

By: senior lucuma

senior lucuma — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:47:09 +0000

It’s true Eucalyptus soak up immense amounts of water. I am from Ecuador and we have already seen huge problems from this tree. The leaves are acidic and when they cover the ground, no ground cover grows at all! They may be used as a starter crop, but should be mixed well with other species when possible. The problem is most people are lazy and depend on easy to grow trees like this. When they become dependent, people won’t bother looking for native alternatives. With the wide range of native species I’m sure alternatives can be found.

As far as being genetically modified, there is a very very good chance! Sorry to say but this is the case in many countries as GMO is growing rapidly with much support.

If anyone has information on native seed banks throughout Peru and south america please post it here and anywhere else suitable. Solid options for preservation of biodiversity and to help counter GMO are urgent at this point.

Peace

By: Jan

Jan — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 11:32:56 +0000

Eucalypts trees are not good to plant in areas prone to drought as they are voracious water users. I surely hope these trees are not genetically modified. The genetically modified trees that a company named ArborGen is pushing on the Southern US are eucalyptus and are also a pesticide in every cell. They do not spout buds, fruit, nuts or pollen and are a direct threat to biodiversity. Do you have any information that would tell us if these are the trees to be planted? If so, I think that decision needs to be urgently reevaluated.

By: iby k

iby k — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:33:51 +0000

just spent some time in Peru and seeing desert was heart wrenching, in short – there is nothing! growing anything there would be improvement. in semi deserted areas there are some plants like few types of cactus etc but still very little. eucaliptus may not be native but it seam to do great job of turning arid land into green areas. it stabilizes soil, traps moisture, provides fuel and quality building material, dampens wind effects, provides habitats for other species, grows fast and spouts new threes even from stumps of cut trees. i think this plant may be a winner….

By: Roger Carlisle

Roger Carlisle — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:23:00 +0000

The title says reforestation – yet the examples you give are eucalyptus and pine to be planted. This would be forestation as they are non-native. Reforestation with native species would be a much better way forward, unfortunately they aren’t normally fast growers and hence have a reduced PR factor for the politicians.

By: Bruce Harlow

Bruce Harlow — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:09:29 +0000

We are planting native trees in the high Andes above Riobamba, Ecuador. The erosion is emense. We could really use some technical asistance. We have our third batch of 12000 trees comming out of our nersery now. The small farms are really hurting for water and we need help figuring out how to re-establish forest. Non local natives like Pine and acacia can be used in a sucsesional stratagy. But we need access to more native trees but which ones are best? We need ponds and check dams to catch soil, experimenting with pampas grass dikes.
Anyone interested in helping? Thanks.
bharlow@wildmail.com
Bruce Harlow

By: Hop Skip Jump Peru

Hop Skip Jump Peru — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:28:30 +0000

Shouldn’t they be planting native trees rather than eucalyptus? Being an Aussie I am a fan of eucalyptus, but I wonder if planting non native trees might also have some detrimental effects on the location.

By: Jean-François de Buren

Jean-François de Buren — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:00:46 +0000

Great story. Thanks, JF