Tree Certificates
Buy a share of the Esquinas Rainforest
Protect Species and Climate by Planting a Tree
- We regret that the text on our Tree Certificates is only in German, but we hope that this will not hinder donors from countries other than Austria from purchasing a certificate.
Due to massive deforestation during the past decades, many forests have been reduced to small islands in which animals and plants cannot survive on a long term. We are trying to establish biological corridors between these isolated remaining tracts of forest and the Rainforest of the Austrians. We will purchase farmland and reforest it with trees from the rainforest. Our goal is to protect species diversity while at the same time helping to combat gloabl warming. Each reforested hectare will sequester 600 tons of carbon dioxide over a period of 60 years.
How do we "reforest"?
Our contacts in Costa Rica are in the process of identifying properties and negotiating with the owners. Our main focus is on razed land between the Fila Cruces, a forested mountain ridge west of the Interamerican Highway, and the Esquinas forest. We also want to save remnant "islands" of forest before they, too, are logged. The idea is to plant trees next to streams and rivers to enable animal populations to migrate between larger tracts of forest. Until mid-2010, we have purchased two properties for reforestation in La Gamba: the farm of Carlos Monge (50 acres) will be left to natural regeneration, and the farm of Ovilio Cruz will be reforested with 7500 trees starting in May 2010. La Gamba Biological Station will administer the project and act as scientific advisor. A forest engineer will supervise the reforestation in the area. Seedlings from 40 different species of trees from the surrounding forest will be grown in nurseries. The land will be marked, prepared and planted with an average of 800 trees per hectare. Local workers and volunteers from Austria will take care of the plantation for three years, after which the trees should be sturdy enough to continue growing without outside help.
Click here for details.