Planting additional species depends on when seeds at respective times throughout the year are able to be collected for raising in the nursery, and when seedlings can be transferred to the field relative to the dry season so that rainfall will be sufficient. At this moment, with high rainfall, we are transplanting a variety of seedlings still in the nurseries. The rainless season usually begins Feb/March. (See list below for tree and palm species planted until this point.)

Insect damage has been surprisingly low: perhaps 5% of planted seedlings showed damage from leafcutter ants; others appeared to have “grillo” damage (non-specific cricket/grasshopper species). Mirex, an anticide, has been applied to the leafcutter ("zampopo") colony entrances. Leafcutters are a leading pest in tropical agriculture that can denude entire mature trees overnight. Nests, more numerous in monocultures and disturbed habitats than in mature forests, commonly measure several meters wide and deep and are exceedingly difficult to eradicate. Queen and eggs are deep underground and workers number in the millions. Because the colony’s food is not the leaves carried in but rather is the fungus it cultivates on the leaves, fungicides are sometimes employed. Whatever the treatment, it must be repeated several times before a colony can be completely eliminated. Chickens are quite effective exterminators if the nest can be opened.

Upon reaching a height of about 1.5 meters, the mahoganys and spanish cedar trees will be susceptible to the larva of a moth known as "mahogany shoot borer" (Hipsipyla grandella) that has discouraged many Central American mahogany tree farmers. Fumigation is the common defensive practice, however, there is a trap that we are making and employing, that consists of a plastic soft drink bottle cut and hung on a tall stake so that breeze can flow through the bottle, thus carrying the odor of the molasses and alcohol mixture within. The moths are attracted and then drown in the mixture at the bottom of the bottle. With correct proportion of alcohol, bees are not attracted. We looked into an experimental trap—it was attracting a variety of insects, indicating that more alcohol was needed in the mixture.

Entering the forest conservation area of the project, I saw that 100 cacao seeds had been planted directly into the forest soil and that emerging plants were now vigorous in the moisture-dripping conditions under the canopy. Previous speculation had been that trending regional climatic conditions would be too dry in the long run for cacao--hopefully a false assumption. Insect damage appeared to be minimal even though no pesticides had been applied. Seeds, as explained earlier in a previous post by Sebastian, had been taken from trees genetically native to our area.

In the center of the regenerating forest, PSP’s (Permanent Sample Plots) had been delineated on a phone app and major trees within had been marked physically with painted reference numbers for growth measurements useful in calculating forest development and carbon sequestration. Ingeniero Herrera recorded one of the trees, but the main reasons for his being there was to monitor progress according to planting plans we had submitted to CONAP, inspect firebreaks we had established, and to provide information relative to CONAP requirements.

Eventually we exited the forest area and entered “la chispa.” This is a wide expanse on hilly terrain of a tall bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) known as “la chispa” (“sparks”) due to susceptibility to and management by fire. Drought-resistant and sunlight loving,, chispa often appears on burned and abandoned cornfields and P-poor soils, spreading rapidly, shading out other plant species, therefore is a bane to ranchers desiring grasses. If, however, the chispa itself becomes shaded, it subsides. Trees managing to penetrate the two-meter high chispa canopy then shade and gradually eliminate the chispa underneath. For that reason, we would like to experiment with planting chispa for control of grasses in pastures where planting trees. We saw instances of trees emerging from the chispa and diminished chispa growth underneath.

Exiting the chispa, we came upon one of the forestry workers, tall Melvin, creating moth traps with nothing but a penknife and a sack of discarded bottles. We had lunch and that was the end of our excursion to Green Balam’s restoration and conservation project.

Tree species planted include to date:
Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla),
Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata),
Cericote (Cordia dodecandra) ,
Santa Maria (Callophyllum brasiliense),
Matilisguate (Tabebuia sp.)
Jobillo (Astronium graveolens)
Tinto (Haematoxylon campechianum) ,
Jabin (Piscidia piscipula)
Chaltecoco (Caesalpinia velutina)
Chico zapote (Manilkara zapota)
Ramon (Brosimum alicastrum)
Avocado (Persea americana),
Cacao (Theobroma cacao),
Chakaj (Simaruba bursera),
Copal (Protium copal)
Guano (Sabal mauritiiformis)