This photo shows an 8 year-old agroforestry system developed under IDESAM’s programme: not a WeForest area, but a good indication of how ours will look in time. The coffee trees are planted in lines, and within these lines are bananas and other native species. You can clearly see the big leaves characteristic of the bananas, and if you look carefully you can also spot some palm trees such as açaí (Euterpe oleracea). The idea is that the native species will provide shade to the coffee, but with no more than 50% of canopy cover, otherwise productivity decreases. The native species can also be used for non-timber products, and some of them are used to increase biomass and for nitrogen fixation. While the trees are growing, the farmers can also cultivate crops between the lines, such as cassava or corn, for consumption or to sell.