Reforestation

ARR Campo Verde

The only reforestation project with shihuahuaco in the world. More than a thousand hectares of plantations of native species successfully established 14 years ago on degraded land. The most relevant example of commercial forest restoration in the Peruvian Amazon and an open door to the future of genetics through a nursery with the latest cloning technology.

The story of the project began in 2009, when Jorge Cantuarias F. and a team of forestry engineers decided to recover hundreds of degraded hectares and establish the most ambitious forest restoration and recovery effort in the Peruvian Amazon. The first thing was to obtain the genetic material, for which seed samples were collected from outstanding trees of multiple proficiencies. With the data documented with precision, it was possible to gather the farm to plant about a thousand hectares of native species of high commercial value: the chosen were the shihuahuaco or cumaru, a species of great density, and the marupa, of rapid growth and versatility in the market, in addition to some others of promising potential.

The chosen setting was the Campo Verde estate, the largest privately owned area in the Peruvian Amazon – about 25,000 hectares located just 45 minutes from the city of Pucallpa, the forest heart of Peru. The strategic location of the project allowed BAM to benefit from economies of scale, optimal transportation costs, as well as access to infrastructure and skilled labor.

The objective of the project was to demonstrate that old cattle pastures, deforested more than four decades ago and seriously affected by soil compaction and erosion, could regenerate and form forests that not only restore the ecosystem to its health and potential to generate environmental services, but also generate significant income thanks to its high commercial productivity. In short, to restore the economic value of forests and the environmental benefits to the environment and to the local populations in their sphere of influence (return of water balance, corridors for wildlife and refuge for natural pollinators).

The result is more than 600 thousand 14-year-old trees – a valuable intangible asset and a genetic capital of incalculable potential – part of which has begun to be used since 2023, and which constitutes the basis of an ambitious genetic improvement project developed by BAM in partnership with the Technological Institute of Costa Rica. The state-of-the-art nursery established in Campo Verde will provide clones from the plus trees rigorously selected based on their physical, sanitary and commercial characteristics, allowing an increase in the production of future plantations by up to 30%. The production of seedlings is expected to reach one million units in the coming years.

An additional benefit of plantations is that, as they grow, trees capture carbon from the environment and transform it into wood, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere and helping in the fight against climate change. We are the pioneers of the large-scale and sustainable reforestation industry in Peru. We invite you to invest in one of the sectors with the greatest economic, social and environmental potential in the coming years.

Additional information (link)