Forest Plantations, Forestation and Reforestation

Forestation and Reforestation are technologies developed by man to establish cultivated forests which will contribute not only to the production of lumber but also to control erosion, the regulation of water cycles, the economic use of soils lacking an arboreal cover as well as the use of areas for recreational activities, animal shelters and to protect plant ecosystems.

Lumber from tree plantations contributes not only to the reduction in pressure over natural or native forests but also to the economic use of trees grown under a plantation scheme.

The plantation scheme is a very important strategy used in the future supply of lumber. In the coastal region, ENDESA and BOTROSA have reforested an average of 400 hectares annually. This has been accomplished by means of planting several native tree species such as: coco, pachaco, jacaranda, cutanga, laurel, chuncho, laguno, mascarey, among others. They have introduced "terminalia" as an exotic species. More than 10,000 hectares have been reforested during the past 25 years.

The Forestation and Reforestation program has the backstopping of an important forestry research program by means of developing tree nurseries, selection and breeding, seed banks, among others. These activities are being executed by the Fundacion Juan Manuel Durini. An important cooperation has been obtained from the British Development Agency DFID for most of these activities.