C009 - Stichting Guacamaya (Guatemala): Reforestation in Guatemala

Question
Design a quarter acre of forest for Guatemala with the highest possible yield for a period of 40 years.
For this assignment you will attend the Worldschool conference on October 7 in Utrecht, Media
Plaza. Please visit: http://www.mediaplaza.nl/?page_id=1477 and check the homepage of
www.worldschool for more information

Situation
History
The Guacamaya Foundation was founded in 1996 by Michael de Groot and a few of his friends for setting
up development projects in Guatemala. Michael moved to Guatemala in 1996 and lived in the small
Mayan village of El Corozal for six years. In cooperation with the local residents, he set up an educational
centre on a plot of ten hectares that was given to him by the local community. Michael returned to the
Netherlands in 2002 and the management of the centre and the development of the various project
activities was transferred to a locally established organization consisting of enthusiastic and highly skilled
Mayans. The centre is supported by the Guacamaya Foundation in the Netherlands.
The Guacamaya museum

Large howler monkey

Area of operations
The Guacamaya Foundation operates in the western part of the department of Petn in northern
Guatemala. The activities focus mainly on the village of El Corozal and the surrounding villages Nueva
Candelaria, Las Ruinas and Sagrada Corazon. In addition, educational activities are being conducted
through collaboration with various schools in twenty other villages. The area the Foundation operates in is
mainly inhabited by Mayans (and people of mixed descent). Most people depend on agriculture and are
very poor. The local education is of a very low basic level. All villages have a primary school and some
villages have a high school. Most children do not receive any more education after primary school.
Until about ten years ago, the main part of the project area was covered by forest. Since then, the forest
has been largely cut down and only small fragments are left. Deforestation leads to increasing problems
because most people rely on the forest for building materials such as timber, palm leaves for roofing,
fruits, nuts, and firewood in particular. Firewood had no value whatsoever before, but due to extensive
deforestation many families have no choice but to buy firewood. Not too long ago, these people would
never have imagined paying for firewood because it was readily available.
Activities
The activities of the Guacamaya Foundation focus mainly on Mayan children and to a lesser extent
Mayan women. The core activities are based on two educational programmes about the fictional Mayan
children Juanito and Maria. The main programme is called: Juanito and Maria plant a forest, which. It
consists of eight stories. In the first story Juanito and Maria help their mother by searching for firewood,
but there is barely any wood to be found and they decide to plant their own forest. The forest grows over
time and the children are profiting more and more from it. In the seventh story, Maria builds her own
house with materials gathered in the forest. In the eighth and final story, she pays for the university
education of her daughter Esmeralda with the proceeds from selling the mahogany that she planted thirty
years ago. Esmeralda goes on to become the villages first physician and the entire family celebrates in
the forest to which they owe everything.

After the story, the children are asked whether or not the story could be true and if they would do the
same as Juanito and Maria. Both questions are answered with an enthusiastic YES every single time.
Then the children are presented with 50 saplings and a bamboo plant to start their own small forest, just
like Juanito and Maria.
Another programme is similar in design and is called: Juanito and Maria set up a chicken yard. The
programme consists of five stories. In the first story, Juanito and Marias pregnant mother is ill because
she suffers from anemia (the one-sided diet of tortillas and beans causes anemia in many pregnant
women). Juanito and Maria learn about Chaya, a plant that is used in Mexico to cure anemia. They set up
a vegetable garden and take much better care of the chickens in order to give their mother chicken soup
with lots of vegetables so she will recover. The garden is a huge success and the chickens are
increasingly happy. The soup does the trick and their mother gives birth to a healthy baby girl called Eva.
After the programme the children are offered the opportunity to set up their own vegetable garden and to
build a chicken coop out of bamboo for the chickens.
The programmes were put into practice last year and the children and teachers were very enthusiastic
about the stories. Soon enough, teachers and their students came by the centre to sign up for the
programme. The centre was also visited by teachers and students of the local teacher preparation
programme and in 2013 all students in their final year will participate in the educational programmes. In
this way we hope to help 1000 Mayan children to plant their own forest in 2013. In addition to these
educational programmes for children, we help Mayan women setting up vegetable gardens and making
their chicken farms more productive. The vegetables and chickens contribute to the reduction of chronic
malnutrition in the area and may also provide a little extra income.
Summary
Almost all of the forest has been cut down in the project area. This leads to increasing problems because
the local population relies on various products provided by the forest, firewood in particular. The
Guacamaya Foundation has developed an educational programme to help Mayan children to plant their
own forest. A series of stories teaches them about the importance of the forest and how to plant different
trees. After the programme they are given various saplings and bamboo in order to plant their own forest.
The assignment is to design the ideal forest. What combination of trees and plants provides the highest
yield over a period of 40 years?
Background
Until about ten years ago, the project area was largely covered by forest. Precious wood, such as
mahogany, was used for making furniture. Other types of wood were used for building houses and the
roofs were covered with palm leaves collected in the forest. Hunters hunted for white-tailed deer and
peccaries (wild pigs). Fruits, nuts and mushrooms were also gathered in the forest, providing a
complement to the one-sided diet of tortillas and black beans. In addition, firewood was gathered in the
forest. Almost all families in the project area use firewood for cooking. Due to unsustainable agricultural
practices nearly all of the forest has vanished. Mahogany and other solid timber has disappeared
completely. Poor people used palm leaves as roofing material. Palm leaves have grown so scarce that a
roof of corrugated iron is now cheaper and only the rich people can afford palm leaves to make a roof
that is pretty and keeps the heat out. Game, forest fruits and nuts are hard to find. The biggest problem,
however, is the scarcity of firewood. Until recently, firewood had no value whatsoever, but now many
people are forced to buy firewood from people that have some of the forest left on their land. And firewood
keeps getting scarcer and therefore more expensive. Firewood is

needed every day for the preparation of meals and an ever growing part of the families meagre income is
now used for buying firewood.
Children plant their own forest
The Guacamaya Foundation has developed an educational programme to stimulate children to plant their
own forest. The programme is called: Juanito and Maria plant their own forest, which consists of eight
stories. In the first story Juanito and Maria help their mother by searching for firewood, but there is barely
any wood to be found and they decide to plant their own forest. The forest grows over time and the
children are profiting more and more from it. In the seventh story, Maria builds her own house with
materials gathered in the forest. In the eighth and last story she pays for the university education of her
daughter Esmeralda with the proceeds from selling the mahogany that she planted thirty years ago.
Esmeralda goes on to become the villages first physician and the entire family celebrates in the forest to
which they owe everything. After the story, the children are asked whether or not the story could be true
and if they would do the same as Juanito and Maria. Both questions are answered with an enthusiastic
YES every single time. Then the children are presented with 50 saplings and a bamboo plant to start their
own small forest, just like Juanito and Maria.
The children are given a combination of five species of tree, a couple of papaya plants and a bamboo
plant. The trees are a mix of fast-growing and slower-growing species that are to be used for various
ends. Malina is a tree that grows very fast and that can be used for lumber after five years. Mahogany
grows slowly and it takes at least 30 years before it can be cut. An advantage of mahogany is that this
type of wood is very valuable and keeps on getting more expensive because there is virtually none of it
left. A couple of mahogany trees could be regarded as a kind of pension provision.
After a year, the children are paid a visit and are given more trees to plant if they have taken good care of
their forest. They will be given other species of tree that produce fruit, such as allspice trees. Allspice is a
relatively valuable spice. The idea is that the children plant a forest that, in the course of time, offers them
more and more. After nine months the papayas can be harvested, after 2-3 years the forest will be
thinned and the trees that are removed can be turned into firewood. After 3-5 year the trees start
developing fruits; after 5 years bamboo can be harvested for an indefinite period of time and the Melina
can be harvested for simple building projects. By planting new trees after cutting trees down, a continuous
stream of forest produce can be guaranteed.

Desired endproduct
The children are given a combination of different tree species. After all, planting a diverse forest has
several advantages. Trees suffer from various diseases. A disease or insect infestation would be the end
of a forest that consists of one species only. By planting different species, diseases are less likely to
develop and wont be harmful to all trees. Additionally, different species yield different products. The price
of many products is fluctuating; pimento pepper can be very expensive one year and might be very cheap
the next. Perhaps there is a time when Melina wood is in demand because a local pulp mill is set up, but
such a mill may disappear over time, making it harder to sell Melina wood. This wood will always be
locally marketable as firewood, of course. By producing different products, the risk of a large loss of
income is reduced. A varied forest provides a habitat for all kinds of animals. This may not be very
interesting for the people, but these animals could prevent an insect invasion. The forest also absorbs
CO2.

Juanito planting trees in 2009

Juanito's forest in 2012

Fullly-grown bamboo
The assignment is to design a quarter-acre forest that has the highest possible yield over a period of 40
years. An equation is developed taking into account the different factors. The most important factor is the
yield of the various products produced by the forest. This doesnt just mean wood. Nitrogen fixing trees
enrich the soil and this is a valuable service as well. Less important factors are the forests uptake of CO2
and biodiversity (trees that offer animals food such as nectar, fruit and edible leaves). People in
Guatemala prefer a fixed income over a fluctuating income simply because they do not have any savings
for economically difficult times. Youll receive more points if you use different tree species. In addition,
people in Guatemala have a shorter investment horizon than we do in the Netherlands. Therefore a
reasonably high discount factor is used, such as 7%.
In the forest that is to be planted, you could use other crops as well as trees. In the first few years, a crop
like peanuts or beans can be grown among the trees. As the forest grows, crops that can be grown in the
shade can be planted, such as guano, the palm tree of which the leaves can be used for roofing. The
yield of all these crops is taken into account in the calculation. You may use all existing trees and plants,
but keep in mind that they must be able to thrive in a tropical area with a dry season of three months,
during which no irrigation is possible. Also, people generally do not have the option of fertilizing the forest.
Contact:

Michael is teaching the children about the project

Correspondence address
Stichting Guacamaya Dassenrade 41 2544 MJ Den Haag http://www.guacamaya.org
Contact
Michael de Groot Email: stichtingguacamaya@me.com
Worldschool advice (also refer to the Worldschool manual at http://www.worldschool.nl/manual)
1. Contact with the foundation
We kindly request you to contact the foundation
A. when you have chosen the assignment
-introduce yourself (name, school, name of assignment, motivation) -inform them about your timeline
(important dates, deadlines etc.) -make clear arrangements about the frequency of your communication
B. when you have made a plan of approach for the assignment and need to ask the foundation for
approval
C. for regular updates on the progress of your work

D. to send your final report

Please be polite in your correspondence
2. Think globally, work locally
Discuss your work with our experts: foreign students from ISS and IHS or Dutch PUM experts from field.
In this way you will prevent intercultural mistakes.
Ready-made solutions do not exist. Everything that has been done before has to be adjusted according to
the local situation. Try to collect as much information as possible locally. Prevent westernised solutions.
3. Research solidly
Make use of Worldschool's knowledge centres and the support from the Universities. Base your work on
research; analyse comparable projects to find pitfalls and success factors; meticulously test designs;
check your plan with scientists.