Reforestation

Last week I have planted the first trees on our new plot. Because we hope to receive tourists, and tourists are generally more interested in animals than in plants, we have decide to plant trees that attract animals because of their fruit, nectar or leaves. Furthermore we want trees that produce good tropical hard wood. If we want to seel our plot in 20 years time and tourrism isn’t so popular anymore, we will have at least some valuable wood to sell.

Our eight hectare (19 acre) has been enriched with the first ten mahogany trees (Swietenia macrophylla) locally known as Caoba, four Zapotes (Pouteria sapota), a tree that produces fruit and high quality wood, four Bread fruit trees (Artocarpus altilis), which, you guessed it, produce fruit and one rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum). Furthermore I planted three ginger plants (Zingiber officinale) and five clumps of lemon grass for use in the future kitchen. Finally, I have planted four Schoe makers trees (Byrsonima crassifolia), locally known as nance. The latter is a small tree that gives fruit and produces good hard wood.

I bought the trees in a government run nursery. These nurseries only sell ‘productive trees, such as fruit trees and hardwood producing trees. Unfortunately there was rather little choice. What I bought represents about three quarters of all the species they had available. But because we do want some more variety and because I wanted to get soem experience first, I have only bought a few of each. Especially the mahoganies were small, just 20 cm (8 inches) high and with 5 to 7 leaves. The other trees were up to half a meter high.

Furthermore, tree planting is hard work, and I wanted the trees planted as quickly as possible. First you dig a hole of 50 x 50 x 50 cm, mix part of the soil you dug up with fertilizer and rice chaff (to increase the water holding capacity of the soil), throw the mixture back in the hole, put the tree in the hole, fill up the remainder with soil and give lots of water. Then cover the planting hole with a thick layer of rice chaff as mulch. Quite a lot of work but the reults are good: tress produced the first new leave within four days of planting! However, we still have a long way to go, right now, each tree has just enough wood for one mahogany match stick

The plot is surrounded by a ‘living fence’ of mostly ‘Gumbo limbo’ trees and a few mahoganies. Although I think that the barbed wire that has been hammered into the trunk does not increase the value of those mahoganies. The fruits of Gumbo limbo are eaten by capucin monkeys and several species of birds. The wood is just good enough for match sticks and crates.

Several of our neighbours came along to have a chat and look at my tree planting technique. Most people here just stick a branch in the ground at the beginning of the rainy season and hope for the best. Two of my visitors also asked if they could rent our plot to graze their cattle. Nope, those beasts would just eat my newly planted trees.