Da ich zur Zeit recht beschäftigt bin mit meiner Bachelorarbeit, dachte ich mir, ich nütze die Gelegenheit, um euch ein bisschen was über das hiesige Projekt zu erzählen. Ich selbst muss ja immer vor Ort sein und die Dinge sehen, damit ich sie richtig verstehe und nachdem ich mich nun zusätzlich auch noch in verschiedenen Formen damit befasst habe (z.B. für meinen DAAD-Bericht und natürlich die Bachelorarbeit), kann ich, denke ich, meinen bisherigen “Stand des Wissens” ganz gut vermitteln.
Das Projekt heisst „Agroforstliche Möglichkeiten zur Förderung der Wiederaufforstung in Ost-Panama“ und wurde von Carola im Sommer letzten Jahres im Rahmen ihrer Diplomarbeit begonnen, für die sie insgesamt drei Jahre lang gefördert wird. Es läuft – wie ihr ja schon mitbekommen habt – in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der deutschen Firma “Forest Finance”, deren Prinzip es ist, an interessierte Anleger vorher definierte Aufforstungsflächen entweder für 25 Jahre zu verpachten oder zu verkaufen, sich um deren Aufforstung, Pflege und Ernte zu kümmern und den Kunden jährliche Renditen von 8-11 % in Aussicht zu stellen. Dies schafft zugleich Arbeitsplätze für die heimische Bevölkerung und bietet eine Alternative zur Abholzung der noch existierenden Regenwälder, was in Panama ja ein besonders großes Problem darstellt. Zur Veranschaulichung ein Vergleich der bewaldeten Fläche des Landes in den Jahren 1947, 1986 und 1992:
Allerdings ist Aufforstungsfläche nicht gleich Aufforstungsfläche. Entscheidend sind daher bei Forest Finance der Grundsatz der Mischwaldaufforstung im Gegensatz zu konventionellen Monokulturen, der weitgehende Verzicht auf chemische Dünger und Pestizide sowie die bevorzugte Anpflanzung heimischer Baumarten. Im Allgemeinen wird nämlich Teak bevorzugt, der eigentlich in Asien heimisch ist und ein im Vergleich zu heimischen Baumarten unvergleichbar schnelleres Wachstum in den ersten Jahren aufweist, leider aber eben auch ungünstige Wirkungen auf den Boden besitzt (vor allem wegen der großen Blätter, die andere Vegetation behindern und den Boden versauern).
Carolas Projekt findet auf einer insgesamt 70 ha großen Finca namens „Playa Chuzo“ (der Namensgeber – mit „chuzo“ werden die Stöcke zum Löcherbohren für die neuzupflanzenden Bäume bezeichnet – muss ein recht humorvoller Mensch gewesen sein) statt, die etwa 2 km von Tortí entfernt ist und auf dem die schon mal erwähnte Dienstleistungsfirma „Barca“ die Pflege übernimmt. Von den verschiedenen Investmentmöglichkeiten, die Forest Finance anbietet, gehören diese Flächen zum „CO2OL“-Projekt, welches europäischen Firmen eine Ausgleichsmöglichkeit für deren Emissionen bietet (Vorteil für die Firma ist in diesem Fall „nur“ Publicity). Abgesehen von Teak werden hier fünf einheimische Baumarten angepflanzt, darunter z.B. die panamaische Variante des Mahagoni-Baums. Diese Baumarten werden sowohl in Kombination mit verschiedenen Feldfrüchten (derzeit Mais, Reis, eine Bohnenart namens Guandu und natürlich „meine“ Yuca :)) als auch in verschiedenen Abständen voneinander kultiviert, was zahlreiche Vergleichsmöglichkeiten erlaubt (natürlich gibt es auch Monokulturflächen der Feldfrüchte als „Kontrolle“). Eines der Hauptziele des Ganzen ist es, eine Möglichkeit zu finden, wie auch kleine Farmer sich an der Wiederaufforstung beteiligen können. Erstens wird diese nämlich bislang nur von Großunternehmen getätigt, da nur diese es sich leisten können, einige Jahre auf die ersten Profite zu warten, und zum anderen ist die Alternative, die Kleinfarmer bevorzugen, die Beweidung mit Vieh, was natürlich enorm zur Bodendegradation beiträgt. Hätten die Subsistenzfarmer eine Möglichkeit in den ersten Jahren der Agroforstwirtschaft eine Nahrungsgrundlage und vielleicht sogar Profite durch Feldfrüchte zu erwerben und zugleich die Aussicht auf erhöhte Profite in späteren Jahren (die Bäume sozusagen als „Sparkasse“ nutzend), hätten auch sie einen Ansporn, sich an der Wiederaufforstung zu beteiligen. Ein weiteres Ziel ist aber auch die Motivation der Großunternehmen, zusätzlich zu ihren Bäumen Feldfrüchte zu kultivieren, was nicht zuletzt die Nahrungsmittelsicherheit des Landes verbessern würde, das mit degradierten Böden (siehe vorher) und zahlreichen für Feldfruchtanbau ungeeigneten Lagen zu kämpfen hat. Auch wenn – wie bereits aus den bisherigen Ergebnissen des Projektes ersichtlich wurde – auf Agroforstflächen freilich nicht gerade Spitzenerträge erzielt werden können, so bieten die Erträge dennoch einen Zusatzprofit (wichtig ist natürlich herauszufinden, inwiefern die Bäume beeinträchtigt werden) und werden zudem durch die positiven Einflüsse der Bäume auf den Boden ihrerseits positiv beeinflusst. Das Projekt ist nur ein kleiner Anfang (und mein Beitrag ist noch viel kleiner), aber es ist ein Anfang und wird hoffentlich noch mehr Bemühungen in dieser Richtung inspirieren und motivieren. Ich bin jedenfalls umso begeisterter davon, je mehr ich mich damit befasse, und finde es auch ziemlich spannend, mit wievielen Aspekten allein der Yuca man sich befassen kann. :)
So, nun ist endlich der Strom wieder da und ich kann meinen kleinen „Zwischenbericht“ online stellen. Zur Zeit regnet es hier so viel wie seit zehn Jahren nicht mehr, was, wie mir gesagt wurde, La Niña, der Folgeerscheinung von El Niño zu verdanken ist (schon schade dass wir nie die Klimatologie-Folien bekommen haben!). Jedenfalls hat dies zur Folge, dass wir diesmal sogar die Ursache des Stromausfalls kannten, nämlich ein Baum, der im stürmischen Wetter auf die Leitungen gefallen war. Da wir das Phänomen aber ohnehin schon so gewohnt sind, kommentieren wir es schon gar nicht mehr, sondern wenden uns eben stromunabhängigen Aufgaben zu, Carola geht mit Stirntaschenlampe Geschirr spülen (die Küche hat keine Fenster) und ich lese auf altmodischem Papier statt auf dem Bildschirm. ;)
Anbei noch ein paar Fotos aus meiner Nachbarschaft, die die Regenzeit in Blüte versetzt hat. Ich war ganz überrascht, als ich aus der Stadt zurückgekommen war. Im Übrigen habe ich beobachten dürfen, dass die einheimische Bevölkerung nach einer gewissen Zeit viel herzlicher und offener wird als am Anfang. In Uganda war man ja Fremden gegenüber sehr aufgeschlossen, so gesehen habe ich meine “Aufenthaltsdauern” wohl “richtig” auf die Länder verteilt. :) Natürlich hat auch mein verbessertes Spanisch dazu beigetragen, aber nicht als “entscheidender Faktor”, würde ich sagen. Lustig war es aber schon, als vieles von dem, was sich die Leute auf der Straße zurufen oder einander erzählen und was bisher immer nur unverständliches Gemurmel für mich gewesen war, plötzlich Sinn ergeben hat, so als ob mir jemand einen Babel fish ins Ohr gesetzt hätte. ;)
Entschuldigt, wenn ich gerade etwas langsam bin mit dem Emails-Beantworten, aber ich nutze derzeit das etwas kühlere Wetter und die ruhigeren Tage (hier waren viele Feiertage) zum Arbeiten und muss auch langsam meinen Kolumbien-Abstecher vorbereiten. :)
Ich denke an euch und wünsche euch viel Durchhaltevermögen im stressigen Unialltag!
Eure Johanna
PS: Übrigens konnte ich inzwischen das VPN-Problem umgehen, da es nun einen eAccess-Zugang auf der Seite der Bib gibt, war das bei euch auch schon so? Auf jeden Fall super praktisch!
PPS: Laut Carola sind das Ananas-Angebot der “Ananas-Frau” und die Gemüseauswahl des Supermarktes seit meiner Ankunft sprunghaft angestiegen. ;) Ich glaube, ich trage zum Wirtschaftswachstum des Dorfes bei. ^^
English version
However, one afforestation area is not like another. That’s why the principle of mixed woodland planting as opposed to conventional monocultures, the almost complete absence of chemical fertilizers and pesticides as well as the preferred planting of native tree species are crucial to Forest Finance. For in general, teak is preferred by most plantation owners, which is actually native to Asia and which grows far faster in its early years than native tree species, but unfortunately has very unfavourable effects on the soil (mainly because of the large leaves which impede other vegetation and acidify the soil).
Carola's project is located on a 70 hectare finca called "Playa Chuzo" (the name creator must have been a very humorous person - "chuzo" is the word for the sticks which are used to prepare the holes for the trees to be planted) which is about 2 km from Tortí and which the service company “Barca” that I also mentioned before takes care of. The areas belong to the "CO2OL" project, one of the various investment opportunities offered by Forest Finance, which offers a possibility to European companies to compensate their emissions (the advantage for the company is "merely" publicity in this case). With the exception of teak, there are five species of native trees planted, e.g. the Panamanian version of the mahogany tree. These tree species are cultivated in combination with various crops (currently maize, rice, a bean species called “Guandu” and ‘my’ Yuca of course :)) and were furthermore planted at different distances from each other, which allows many comparisons (of course there are also mono-crop areas for the purpose of control). One of the main objectives of the project is to find a way for small farmers to participate in reforestation. Firstly, this has so far been performed only by large companies, since it is only them who can afford to wait for the first profits for several years, and secondly the alternative preferred by small farmers is cattle grazing which of course contributes greatly to soil degradation. If the subsistence farmers had a chance to acquire staple food and perhaps even profits from crops in the first years of agroforestry and additionally had the prospect of increased profits in later years (using the trees as a kind of "savings bank"), they would also have an incentive to participate in reforestation. Another goal, however, is the motivation of large firms to grow agricultural crops in addition to their trees, which would not least contribute to an improved food security of the country which is struggling with its degraded soils (see above) and many unsuitable locations for crop cultivation. Even if - as can be seen from the previous results of the project – agroforestry areas do not exactly produce top yields, the yields still offer an additional profit (while it is important of course to find out how the trees are affected) and also affect the soils positively through the positive influences of the trees. The project is only the thin end of the wedge (and my contribution is even smaller), of course, but it's a start and will hopefully inspire and motivate more efforts in this direction. Anyway, the more I am working on it, the more enthusiastic I’m getting about it, and I’m also fascinated by the amount of aspects the yuca alone has to offer. :)
Now we’ve finally got power again and I can put my little "interim report" online. Currently it is raining more here than it has been for a decade which is due to La Niña, the secondary effects of El Niño (a pity that we’ve never got the climatology lecture notes!). In any case, this means that this time we even know the cause of the power failure, which is a tree that has fallen onto the power supply line in stormy weather. Since we are so used to the phenomenon anyway, we don’t even comment on it anymore, but just turn to “power-independent” tasks, Carola washing the dishes with a torch on her forehead (the kitchen doesn’t have windows) and me reading stuff on old-fashioned paper instead of the screen . ;)
I’m adding some pictures of my neighborhood which has been put “in bloom” by the rainy season - I was quite surprised when I came back from the city. By the way, I’ve observed that the local population has become a lot warmer and more open towards me than at the beginning. In Uganda it had been very open even to strangers, so it seems that I’ve split my "durations of stay" "correctly" between the countries. :) Of course, my improved Spanish has also contributed to that, but not as a "decisive factor" I’d say. However it was funny to observe for me how a lot of what people shout to each other and tell each other on the streets suddenly makes sense, which had only been unintelligible mumbling to me up to now, as if someone had put a Babel fish into my ear. ;)
I’m sorry if I'm being a little slow with my replies to your e-mails these days, but I’m currently making use of the slightly cooler weather and the calm (there have been a few holidays) for my work and also for starting to prepare my trip to Colombia. :)
I’m thinking of you and wish you a lot of stamina in the stressful university life!
Johanna
PS: According to Carola both the pineapple offer of "pineapple-woman" and the selection of vegetables in the supermarket have increased significantly since my arrival. :) I think I’m contributing to the economic growth of the village. ^^
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| Eingang zum Nachbarhaus Gate to our neighbouring house |
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| Die Papajas sind hier genauso groß wie in Uganda... (das Bild stammt noch aus El Valle) The local papayas equal those of Uganda in size... (the picture is from El Valle) |
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| ... aber innen optisch sogar noch ansprechender. :) ... but their interior is even more appealing :) |
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| Nachtrags-Bild zur Fahrt auf die Felder mit den Arbeitern On our way to the fields with the workers |
English version
Since I’m quite busy with my bachelor thesis at the moment, I thought I'd take the opportunity to tell you a little about the project. I usually have to see things myself to understand them properly and now that I've also dealt with the matter in various forms (e.g. by writing my report for the DAAD and the thesis, of course), I think I can convey my current “level of knowledge” quite well.
The project is called "Enriching plantation forests with understory crops as a method to facilitate reforestation activities in Panama” and was initiated by Carola last summer for the purpose of her diploma thesis which is promoted for three years. It is - as mentioned before – run in close cooperation with the German company "Forest Finance” whose principle it is to either lease or sell pre-defined areas to be afforested to interested investors for 25 years, taking care of the reforestation, the maintenance and the harvest of the areas and holding out the prospect of annual returns of 8-11% to the clients. This both creates jobs for the local population and provides an alternative to the deforestation of extant tropical forests, which is such a big problem in Panama. Here is a comparison of the forested area of the country in the years 1947, 1986 and 1992 by way of illustration:
The project is called "Enriching plantation forests with understory crops as a method to facilitate reforestation activities in Panama” and was initiated by Carola last summer for the purpose of her diploma thesis which is promoted for three years. It is - as mentioned before – run in close cooperation with the German company "Forest Finance” whose principle it is to either lease or sell pre-defined areas to be afforested to interested investors for 25 years, taking care of the reforestation, the maintenance and the harvest of the areas and holding out the prospect of annual returns of 8-11% to the clients. This both creates jobs for the local population and provides an alternative to the deforestation of extant tropical forests, which is such a big problem in Panama. Here is a comparison of the forested area of the country in the years 1947, 1986 and 1992 by way of illustration:
However, one afforestation area is not like another. That’s why the principle of mixed woodland planting as opposed to conventional monocultures, the almost complete absence of chemical fertilizers and pesticides as well as the preferred planting of native tree species are crucial to Forest Finance. For in general, teak is preferred by most plantation owners, which is actually native to Asia and which grows far faster in its early years than native tree species, but unfortunately has very unfavourable effects on the soil (mainly because of the large leaves which impede other vegetation and acidify the soil).
Carola's project is located on a 70 hectare finca called "Playa Chuzo" (the name creator must have been a very humorous person - "chuzo" is the word for the sticks which are used to prepare the holes for the trees to be planted) which is about 2 km from Tortí and which the service company “Barca” that I also mentioned before takes care of. The areas belong to the "CO2OL" project, one of the various investment opportunities offered by Forest Finance, which offers a possibility to European companies to compensate their emissions (the advantage for the company is "merely" publicity in this case). With the exception of teak, there are five species of native trees planted, e.g. the Panamanian version of the mahogany tree. These tree species are cultivated in combination with various crops (currently maize, rice, a bean species called “Guandu” and ‘my’ Yuca of course :)) and were furthermore planted at different distances from each other, which allows many comparisons (of course there are also mono-crop areas for the purpose of control). One of the main objectives of the project is to find a way for small farmers to participate in reforestation. Firstly, this has so far been performed only by large companies, since it is only them who can afford to wait for the first profits for several years, and secondly the alternative preferred by small farmers is cattle grazing which of course contributes greatly to soil degradation. If the subsistence farmers had a chance to acquire staple food and perhaps even profits from crops in the first years of agroforestry and additionally had the prospect of increased profits in later years (using the trees as a kind of "savings bank"), they would also have an incentive to participate in reforestation. Another goal, however, is the motivation of large firms to grow agricultural crops in addition to their trees, which would not least contribute to an improved food security of the country which is struggling with its degraded soils (see above) and many unsuitable locations for crop cultivation. Even if - as can be seen from the previous results of the project – agroforestry areas do not exactly produce top yields, the yields still offer an additional profit (while it is important of course to find out how the trees are affected) and also affect the soils positively through the positive influences of the trees. The project is only the thin end of the wedge (and my contribution is even smaller), of course, but it's a start and will hopefully inspire and motivate more efforts in this direction. Anyway, the more I am working on it, the more enthusiastic I’m getting about it, and I’m also fascinated by the amount of aspects the yuca alone has to offer. :)
Now we’ve finally got power again and I can put my little "interim report" online. Currently it is raining more here than it has been for a decade which is due to La Niña, the secondary effects of El Niño (a pity that we’ve never got the climatology lecture notes!). In any case, this means that this time we even know the cause of the power failure, which is a tree that has fallen onto the power supply line in stormy weather. Since we are so used to the phenomenon anyway, we don’t even comment on it anymore, but just turn to “power-independent” tasks, Carola washing the dishes with a torch on her forehead (the kitchen doesn’t have windows) and me reading stuff on old-fashioned paper instead of the screen . ;)
I’m adding some pictures of my neighborhood which has been put “in bloom” by the rainy season - I was quite surprised when I came back from the city. By the way, I’ve observed that the local population has become a lot warmer and more open towards me than at the beginning. In Uganda it had been very open even to strangers, so it seems that I’ve split my "durations of stay" "correctly" between the countries. :) Of course, my improved Spanish has also contributed to that, but not as a "decisive factor" I’d say. However it was funny to observe for me how a lot of what people shout to each other and tell each other on the streets suddenly makes sense, which had only been unintelligible mumbling to me up to now, as if someone had put a Babel fish into my ear. ;)
I’m sorry if I'm being a little slow with my replies to your e-mails these days, but I’m currently making use of the slightly cooler weather and the calm (there have been a few holidays) for my work and also for starting to prepare my trip to Colombia. :)
I’m thinking of you and wish you a lot of stamina in the stressful university life!
Love
Johanna
PS: According to Carola both the pineapple offer of "pineapple-woman" and the selection of vegetables in the supermarket have increased significantly since my arrival. :) I think I’m contributing to the economic growth of the village. ^^
