French Guiana, July 2021
The agroforestry seed orchard project in French Guiana aims to plant 625 trees of 53 different species from the region’s rainforest. It will contribute towards meeting the need for seeds and plants in Guiana.
To date, 291 trees of 16 different species have been planted. The planting was done in two stages: in June 2020, 102 trees were introduced to one plot dedicated mainly to rosewood.
In March 2021, 189 trees of 15 different species were introduced to a second, multi-layered plot.
The rest of the plantation should be completed by the end of 2021 with 37 new species. All the plants and species initially planned for the project are available in the nursery, following a lot of work harvesting seeds and seedlings.
The first two plantating sessions were carried out with the help of four workers. Because of Covid-19 the technical operator in charge of soil preparation being unavailable, planting was delayed in 2020. Since no other operator was available during the dry season, the project had to do the work manually, without slash-and-burn (method of clearing a piece of land by burning the weeds and scrub).
So the creepers were removed with machetes and brush cutters during the Christmas period, before planting the tree. In addition, the trees were mulched by hand with wood chips (to keep the soil moist). This task was carried out manually because the early and particularly heavy rainy season made it impossible to use wood chipper and spreader tools. In total, five litres of wood chip were spread per tree planted.
Preparing the soil for planting took time: 4,000m² were cleaned between mid-December 2020 and mid-January 2021; all in all, 14,000m² should be cleaned by the end of May 2021.
During the tree monitoring stage, the technicians noted low mortality for the ‘rosewood’ plot. All the dead plants have already been replaced. As for the trees planted in early March 2021, they are thriving.
Apart from the delay in programming the work phases for the site, the plantations established so far are proving entirely satisfactory and are encouraging for the rest of the project.
The trees are monitored on a regular basis. Technicians spend three hours to carefully check 100 trees. No pruning is planned for the time being. The only maintenance is cutting away creepers every month and cleaning around the plants. Cleaning the plot three times per year keeps weeds under control. Indeed, in French Guiana everything – including trees and grass – grows so quickly.
The trees in the orchard will produce their first seeds in just five years!
