Trees

Species Selection

With the exception of small numbers of African mahogany, purpleheart and cocobolo trees, The Bocas Forestry Project has only those trees found naturally on the Caribbean side (also commonly called "the Atlantic slope") of Central America. The Caribbean side receives considerably more rainfall than the Pacific slope, and if anything the Archipelago of Bocas del Toro receives more than its share of Atlantic-slope precipitation. Indeed, Panamanians are fond of saying that Bocas del Toro has two seasons: wet and wetter. Although rainfall varies from a low of 8 inches during the months of February and September to a high of nearly 16 inches most of the other months, the islands do not know a dry season. As a result, care must be taken with regard to the species of hardwood trees that should be planted on the islands, or the quality of the wood produced will not meet international standards. Among the hardwoods that require a dry season lasting no less than four months each year are teak, cocobolo and African mahogany. Twenty hardwoods have been identified that exhibit the traits necessary to sell on the international market, some of which already enjoy international demand and most of which enjoy domestic demand. In addition to the care used in selecting the trees that were planted, great care was used in determining the planting, fertilization and maintenance methods employed at the Bocas Forestry Project. Anything less would have been a crapshoot.

Seeds and Seedlings

Although the Bocas Forestry Project has on occasion grown trees from seeds purchased from the highly regarded Banco de Semillas Forestales Unidad de Plantaciones Forestales in Costa Rica, the vast majority of the trees are grown from either seeds or seedlings collected from trees located on islands in the Bocas archipelago. The seeds: After germination, the sprouted seeds are transplanted into planting bags to grow in a protected environment until they are at least two feet tall. The seedlings: They begin their lives naturally in dirt at the base of enormous mother trees and are transplanted only when the seedlings are at least two feet tall. As a result, not only do the trees avoid the shock of being transplanted from one soil type to another, they are transplanted at a time in their young lives when they are better able to cope with transplanting.

Planting Strategies

The hardwoods selected for planting fall into two categories: canopy trees, which are the tallest in the rainforest, and sub-canopy trees, which exist in the shade of the tallest trees. Each species is planted in one-half to one-hectare groupings in order to gain the benefits of monoculture planting while promoting diversity within the project. The trees are planted with close spacing to promote vertical rather than horizontal growth. The planting groups are developed as plantation areas in former pastures and as enrichment areas in the rainforest. The planting strategies for each of these areas are described below.

In the plantation areas the selected canopy and sub-canopy hardwoods are utilized in conjunction with other trees and plants to produce a tiered plantation that mimics the natural rainforest. Initially, canopy trees are planted and allowed to grow for three or four years. In that time the canopy trees develop enough height to enable sub-canopy trees to be planted between the canopy trees. After five to seven years, the sub-canopy trees develop enough height to enable a variety of fruit- and nut-bearing trees and plants to be planted between the canopy and sub-canopy trees. The three tiers of foliage developed by this planting scheme simulate the diversity of the natural rainforest while allowing for the structure that provides greater efficiency and productivity required of a plantation.

In the enrichment areas, the selected canopy and sub-canopy trees are located within the forest in order to replace the valuable species that have been previously harvested. After identifying areas conducive to the planting of seedlings within the forest with openings in the canopy above and/or minimal undergrowth on the forest floor, only one tier of trees is planted with close spacing to promote vertical rather than horizontal growth.

In both the plantation and enrichment areas the trees crowd each other as they grow, which prompts thinning of the trees. The thinning process (the culling of the weaker trees when crowding threatens to inhibit tree growth), is ongoing throughout the life cycle of the Project and continues until the final harvest of the plantation trees. Trees culled during thinning provide a commercially viable product if they have enough heartwood to allow milling into standard lumber sizes.

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