Today was my first visit to Green Balam’s project site since departure in March. I, Scott Forsythe, accompanied Luis Herrera--Forest Engineer from the national council for management of protected areas (CONAP), Guillermo Lone--our own forest engineer, Ramiro Rodas--forestry worker and field manager trainee, and Don Carlos Rodas---resource for local agroforestry experience and ecological knowledge. Sebastian De la Hoz was our guide.

Progress has been remarkable. At the Fer de Lance restoration site, where I had remembered only hectares of unmanaged pastures, were now growing rows of young trees spaced 5 x 5 meters, surrounded by grasses, but also within some of the naturally occurring patches of successional tree growth. Fifteen thousand trees of the projected 25,000 for the project had been grown in our three nurseries, then transplanted to the project. This includes finding soil and seeds for, germinating, and planting in bags 16 species of the planned 25. Fire breaks of 6 m width around the entire project for a perimeter distance of 3.3 km have been cleared, thus protecting from annual uncontrolled fires set by neighboring cattle ranchers for managing unwanted successional growth.

Fifty thousand xate palms of three species are also projected though seeds are not ripe until December. This is a native, fast-growing, regenerative, decorative, forest palm that already enjoys brisk export trade. Five thousand+ guano palms, popular locally as roofing thatch, are being readied for planting next week.

High hurricane activity this year has brought unusually high rainfall, therefore small young trees that I saw in nursery bags months ago were now in the soil, some as tall as 1 meter. Care had been taken to plant species in appropriate soil types and elevations, no identical species had been planted side by side, every row contained a variety of tree species. For the first time in several years, water was standing in depressions, the larger depressions now were ringed with aquatic and semi-aquatic plant species, and contained a biodiversity seldom seen in previous years of dryness caused by both climate shift and local deforestation.

Immediately apparent was the tenacity of the forage grasses introduced by the previous ranchers (Braechiaria brizantha—"MG4" or "brizantha"; and Panicum maximum—"mombasa"). These invasives thrive in full sunlight and are nearly impossible to remove without waiting for natural succession or resorting to glyphosates. Between planting rows, grasses were approx. one meter high. Around each tree, grasses had been chopped by hand. There were rows where workers were mowing with gasoline weed trimmers, but, clearly, within two weeks, growth would again attain one meter. There were a few rows where seedlings appeared taller—there, as an experiment, glyphosates had been applied along with hydrogel and a 13-40-13 fertilizer to increase first year growth and thereby resistance to grasses, pests and drought. What contribution each part of the treatment makes to the increased growth is not evident, therefore will be of interest to refine the experiment and repeat. Further grass control methods to be tried are crimp-rolling, also transplanting/spreading spores of native "chispa" bracken ferns (Pteridium aquilinum) from where they are already shading out other grassy areas of the site.

A certain area of the plantation had tree rows marked with stakes painted blue or red. These indicated ramón (Maya breadnut) and mahogany trees attacked by rodents. Field mice/rats eat the bark, thus girdling the tree and killing it. Rodents were caught in live traps, sometimes 20 within a matter of days, and girdled seedlings were replaced with stouter, more mature ones which appear not to be susceptible. Stakes therefore, visible over the tall grass, denote areas where damage has occurred and where new seedlings have been planted.

Central America is home to lethal fer-de-lance serpents (Lothrops asper) encountered occasionally by field workers. These creatures are excellent rodent hunters. Removing them contributes to higher rodent numbers. For that reason, non-poisonous boas (Boa constrictor) when caught robbing poultry within the nearby settlements, are sold live to Sebastian, who releases them on the Xibalba plantation. Other anti-rodent measures being experimented with at the project are tall perches over the planted areas to encourage hawks and owls to hunt there, as well as spraying human urine at the base of each tree.

In this area we spotted an aracari toucan, a woodpecker, black vultures, and several half-hidden, unidentifiable species. A bird census with professional birder Amnet Marroquín several weeks ago revealed 73 species--adding the toucan amounts to 74. We encountered mole mounds. A few weeks ago, tracks from a large feline, too small for jaguar or puma--too large for ocelot, were encountered and photographed. We set two wildlife camera traps in effort to determine the species. (cont'd)