Thrity Vakil ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES OF EXTREME EVENTS Florida Conf 2023
A brief history of Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas SE Puerto Rico
A brief history of Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas SE Puerto Rico
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Amazon Expedition 1980-1982<br />
Our sustainable forestry project was set up by the Institute of<br />
Ecotechnics after their ship, the RV Heraclitus, and crew went on an<br />
expedition up the Amazon River. That ethnobotanical expedition was<br />
initiated by Richard Evans Schultes. The crew experienced first hand the<br />
devastating effects of illegal logging and deforestation. They started<br />
looking for land to start a sustainable forestry operation as soon as they<br />
arrived in Puerto Rico. The site was determined to be Patillas, SE PR.<br />
The RV Heraclitus
Sub-tropical wet forest<br />
Elevation 600m to 350 m range<br />
TREE PLANTING<br />
1984 - 1990: 40,000 trees planted on 230 acres.<br />
2000 – present: 20,000 trees planted<br />
(Mahogany, Mahoe, & Ausubo)<br />
675 acres of the project land is left as a<br />
wilderness for watershed protection.<br />
Species include:<br />
Mahogany Swietenia aubrevilleana, Mahoe<br />
Hibsicus elatus,<br />
Ausubo Manilkara bidentata,<br />
Granadillo Buchenavia capitata,<br />
Roble Blanco Tabebuia heterophylla,<br />
Teak Tectona grandis.<br />
Thanks to Frank H. Wadsworth, and Pete<br />
Weaver for mentorship and &<br />
collaborations with UPR, IITF, DRNA,<br />
USDA and Earthwatch Institute
1999 – <strong>2023</strong> RESEARCH<br />
Thinning techniques in<br />
secondary forest<br />
Hardwood Surveys<br />
Herpetological Surveys<br />
Seedling abundance<br />
Vine Surveys<br />
Fungi Surveys<br />
Bird Surveys<br />
Ethnobotany<br />
Endangered endemic tree<br />
planting and monitoring<br />
Endangered endemic<br />
species surveys and<br />
propagation
Ongoing Propagation & Tree Planting
In 2012, we started noticing, and then discovered, that every year<br />
in Puerto Rico hundreds of trees of valuable hardwood species are<br />
cut down and discarded in landfills and dumps, or are abandoned<br />
on roadsides.<br />
We formed a new company,<br />
Puerto Rico Hardwoods, &<br />
started to collect, convert, &<br />
transform that ‘waste’ into<br />
lumber & items…
HURRICANE MARIA September 2017
2017 Hurricanes Irma & Maria<br />
devastated the project homestead
Tree nursery after Hurricane Maria
Millions of trees fell in Hurricane Maria all over Puerto Rico --<br />
the government response was to ‘crush and destroy’ it all.
Hurricane salvage<br />
We instigated a major wood<br />
salvage operation
A new industry borne out of disaster
At the forest project we continued work with with local & international<br />
volunteers, clearing debris from the hurricane.
Maintenance of our Educational<br />
Ethnobotanical Trail (since 2004)
2021 brought funding from<br />
The Association<br />
of Zoological Horticulture,<br />
through<br />
Naples Botanical Gardens, FLA<br />
NEW NURSERY
CONSERVATION <strong>OF</strong> ENDEMIC TREES IN PUERTO RICO
Securing the conservation of endemic trees<br />
in Puerto Rico<br />
2021-<strong>2023</strong> A collaborative project with<br />
The Botanical Gardens Conservation International
Garcinia portoricensis<br />
Ravenia urbanii
HURRICANE FIONA 17 th September 2022
Preliminary Rainfall Totals for Puerto Rico & the US Virgin Islands
Arrow indicates location of our project
MAIN ROAD PR 184 suffered many landslides
17 th September 2022, Hurricane Fiona,<br />
followed by three extreme rain events in October and November
Our Forde/bridge torn<br />
from the bank. The river<br />
bed is now 5 times wider<br />
than before Fiona.
LANDSLIDE MITIGATION, a new era of planting.<br />
VETIVER Chrysopogon zizanioides
The rainforest defends itself by a beauty that makes us stop…<br />
take oath to protect her.<br />
www.eyeontherainforest.org<br />
3t <strong>Vakil</strong> 3t@eyeontherainforest.org +1787 329 7761