For Nature announced this Tuesday the return of The Sowingits annual effort to reforestation and citizen participation, which on this occasion will extend throughout October through the educational campaign Sowing Shadow.
Incidentally, the non-profit organization called on communities and entities throughout the archipelago to carry out simultaneous plantings on Saturday, October 24, Planting Day.
“As Caribbean islands, we live on the front lines of the climate crisis and are experiencing its effects in an increasingly evident way. All forms of life that inhabit the islands face unprecedented threats, including the high temperatures that we have experienced in recent years,” he indicated, in a press release. Fernando Lloveras San Miguelpresident For Nature. “In the face of these climate challenges, we call for reforestation to strengthen the health of ecosystems and promote the right of all forms of life that coexist in the archipelago”.
For decades, Para la Naturaleza has promoted reforestation as a climate mitigation practice. climate change. The Sowing arose during the COVID-19 pandemic as an event to distribute trees from the Para la Naturaleza nurseries. Since then, the organization has distributed nearly 100,000 native, endemic and fruit trees and shrubs to citizens, groups and entities committed to reforestation, and its team has planted an additional 20,000 trees in the natural areas it cares for.
Unlike past editions, this year, La Siembra is not limited to a tree distribution event, but is a series of activities that culminate with Planting Day, on October 24:
- Germination and planting workshops: They will be carried out in the Para la Naturaleza nurseries, where they are taught how to germinate and care for native and endemic trees, eligible for Green Contact hours.
- Find your tree: From Wednesday, October 7 to Saturday, October 10, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, Para la Naturaleza will distribute native, endemic and fruit trees in the Hacienda La Esperanza Natural Reserve (Manatí), the Las Cabezas de San Juan Natural Reserve (Fajardo), La Guancha (Ponce), the Centroamericano Stadium (Mayagüez), the Río Piedras nursery, the South Botanical Garden (San Juan) and the Barranquitas nursery. The availability of species varies depending on the locality.
- Organize or join a planting: On Saturday, October 24, communities, organizations and public and private entities carry out their own plantings throughout the archipelago, with the support of Para la Naturaleza and its collaborators.
As part of this edition, Para la Naturaleza launches the Web page of La Siembra, a community action tool that turns the Siembra Sombra campaign into a participatory digital experience.
From a map of the archipelago, you can find public tree distribution events, create planting events – public or private –, register the planted species and learn about native, endemic and fruit trees. Thus, Para la Naturaleza extends the La Siembra effort beyond October and documents the reforestation process throughout the year.
For Nature, Lloveras San Miguel explained, promotes the planting of native, endemic and fruit trees and shrubs because they have adapted to the environmental and physical conditions of the different regions of the archipelago. These trees They feed aquifers, reduce temperatures, tolerate drought events better, recover more quickly after atmospheric events, better resist invasive organisms and diseases, combat pollution, mitigate soil erosion, provide food and shelter to native and migratory flora and fauna, and are part of the landscape and cultural identity. of the archipelago.