| Economic
model for creating a perpetual forest
Trees today can "pay their
own way" to help ensure a perpetual forest
If you are looking for a tree investment, owning title
to the trees and maintaining them yourself or under
a maintenance agreement is a wise investment, IMHO.
I'm personally confident that I will probably have several
million dollars of value in my 4,000 trees in 20 years.
I believe you can minimize the risks of this investment
by choosing your partners carefully, making sure your
trees are rigorously protected, and taking some time
to learn about the industry.
Trees do require a bit of maintenance in the first
three years. Otherwise their value drops dramatically.
Also you must have portable saw mill in order to minimize
ecological damage, and marketing channels if you do
it yourself.
Inimically I invested with a reputable tree farm operation
up north, where the owners live full time in the area
running their farm and developing the perpetual forestry
model. I will continue to learn much from them about
how to care for my own trees on the farm near Dominical.
Please feel free to contact me you have further questions
or want to set up an appointment to discuss everything
in detail.
Below is an excerpt from one of the discussions I have
had with Amy and Fred of the tree farm operation near
Arenal Volcano:
Plantation to Perpetual Forest
During the 25 year period when the plantation grows
we initially cull (or harvest) trees based on the amount
of light reaching the forest floor. After deciding we
need to harvest because the canopy has shaded an area
of the forest floor, we select the poorer quality trees
to cull. We process trees at site with a portable sawmill
and haul out the planks, not big logs, with oxen to
lessen the impact on forest floors This is called low
grading, choosing to cut the less quality trees because
they are more susceptible to diseases and pests instead
of choosing to cut the better trees first. We do this
because we want the end result of the plantation to
be healthy, mature 25 year old genetically superior
mother trees that help give birth to our perpetual forest.
During the last stage of the 25 year plantation cycle
prepare the plantation for perpetual forest management
by making sure a wide variety of appropriate native
seedlings are planted all throughout the area, so that
when our last harvest of teak takes place we are left
with a young, genetically diverse oasis for wildlife.
The Monte Cristo farm has jumped into this stage of
development. We are skipping the 25 year plantation
cycle and going directly from cattle pastures to a perpetual
forest. We can do this at this site because the area
was not as deforested or monocropped as our La Garita
site. At present, our plans for Monte Cristo are to
reforest those small pasture areas with selected native
species such as those on the list "Reforestation
with Native Species" and any others that we can
collect from mother trees in the areas.
Click here for an excellent description of the history
of deforestation in Costa Rica.
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