Continuing its annual tradition, For Nature (PLN) is preparing to distribute 4,000 native, endemic and fruit trees this Saturday to those who attend the free event “The Sowing”which seeks to promote reforestation and mitigate the effects of climate change in Puerto Rico.
Fernando Lloveraspresident of PLN, explained that, unlike the drive-thru dynamics that occurred in previous years due to the pandemic, COVID-19this time, The activity will be on September 7, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, at the Luis Muñoz Marín Park, in San Juan.
“The event seeks to encourage the creation of a planting movement in Puerto Rico, and the reasons are quite evident with what we are seeing, both in terms of climatic events and heat waves, so it is a movement where Puerto Rico can rescue, through all sectors, the vegetation that we have been impacting for hundreds of years. It is a call to plant,” he stressed.
This year, PLN will distribute 4,000 trees – two per person –, unlike last year, when more than 30,000 were distributed at six collection points. Lloveras explained that the limitation is due to the fact that “we have been reforesting a lot in other projects.”
The online registration for the 4,000 available trees was filled to capacity within a week, so Lloveras was excited and thanked the 2,000 people who signed up. “This confirms the desire and commitment of citizens to reforest the islands of Puerto Rico,” he said.
Despite the full capacity for the trees, Lloveras invited citizens who were unable to sign up to go to the Luis Muñoz Marín Park to enjoy the events scheduled for that day, which include orientations at educational stations and reading activities for children..
In addition, there will be free transportation for attendees from the Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum to the event location.
During the activity, more than twenty species will be distributed, including acerola, cocoa, carambola, soursop, guava, jobo, malagueta, button mangrove, papaya, native oak (white), yellow elderberry and tamarind. In addition to this distribution, another 300 plants were distributed last week in the public squares of Caguas and Carolina.
PLN also announced that it will carry out smaller tree distribution activities on the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra, on a date yet to be determined.
For those who cannot attend the event on Saturday, the organization invited them to participate in the free and voluntary activities they carry out throughout the archipelago, as well as to attend one of the Five nurseries open all year round –in Ponce, Manatí, Río Piedras, Barranquitas and Fajardo–, where people can also buy their trees.