La Reina is our first project that we started in 2017. When we bought the finca, it was a teak monoculture. Since we do not consider teak monocultures as a sustainable land use, we decided to slowly transition the project into a diverse generation forest. In 2017 we planted small patches of Rosewood (Dalbergia retusa), Tropical Oak (Tabebuia rosea) and Spanish Cedar (Cedrela odorata). In addition to the planted trees we have an impressive regeneration of Argentine Osage Orange (Maclura tinctoria) as well as small areas of Peruvian Almond (Terminalia oblonga) that we are managing actively.
The Region around La Reina is characterized by massive deforestation that had taken place in the 1970s under the rule of Omar Torrijos, who promoted land reclamation to establish cattle pastures. Today the landscape is dominated by cattle pastures with remnant patches of forests. The finca belongs to our project area Agua Fria.