TGF announces start of season for new reforestations

TGF is also happy to announce the newly acquired properties "Las Claritas" and "Castro" in Darién. There they still need some patience before they can start with the reforestation. The soils are currently not yet soaked enough to give the young seedlings a good start.

The situation is completely different on the Caribbean coast in the mountain forests of the "Sierra Llorona", where they also have three reforestation projects. There, their partners from Futuro Forestal have already given the kick-off for this year's planting season. In addition to them, Futuro Forestal also supports other reforestation enthusiasts who are planting sustainable mixed forests in the evergreen rainforest of the Caribbean coast.

An overview of their reforestation projects in the different regions of Panama can be found here.

In Panama, too, the current pandemic situation has far-reaching consequences and affects TGF's work. As in many tropical countries, strict lockdowns are quite difficult to implement in Panama, as there people depend on their two-week income and hardly have any savings. Unlike a year ago, logistics have now become somewhat easier again. Nevertheless, TGF is currently needing much more time than usual for administrative processes such as land purchases and register entries, as the authorities and banks have large backlogs from the previous year.

But also in Panama there is hope for an improvement. Panama is one of those tropical countries that have, by comparison, a fairly high vaccination rate. Currently, 12% of the population has received their first vaccination. The government has ordered vaccine for more than 90%. So TGF is cautiously confident that here in Panama the worst will be over by the end of the year.



However it may come, TGF's partners in Panama have already taken strong protective measures for the employees last year. For them, that is the most important aspect. But what does this additional corona year mean for TGF's reforestation efforts? Last year, due to the pandemic, they decided not to reforest much land and instead focus on land purchases. This year, they will pick up the pace on reforestation as well. They are currently planning to replant 200 hectares. They will focus primarily on the new projects in Darién. In addition to the projects "La Ponderosa" and "Las Claritas", they are planning to reforest another project. For this purpose they have already looked at a new area in the neighborhood of "Las Claritas". In addition, their forester Iliana Armién is currently on the road and examines new properties. They can already tell you this much: Their number of hectares will increase in the triple digits.

TGF is currently working on the planning and further analysis of the finca "Las Claritas". For this purpose, they are recruiting new people from the region, planning the construction of accommodations and creating a reforestation plan. Of course, this needs to be well thought out. That is why they are currently working with another group of young people from the indigenous community of the "Emberá". The organization is called GEOindigena and was trained by the United Nations. With the help of drones, they are creating a topographical map for "Las Claritas" and they are supplementing this with a systematic soil analysis. This allows them to select tree species to match the soil conditions. Furthermore, they can use the map to create the forest and back roads. Afterwards they mark the planned areas on the finca. They plan to start the reforestation of the areas in June.