Couple
Planting Tropical Hardwood Trees
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the complete text of the article.
World of Wood, June 1993
Nearly everyone has read about the alarming
rate of destruction of the world's tropical rainforests. One Ohio couple, IWCS
members #5545 Steve and Sherry Brunner, are actively doing something to counter this
trend.
Drawing on Steve's nearly twenty years'
experience managing farms and doing business in Costa Rica, the Brunners have assembled a
team of professional tropical foresters, nurserymen and technicians and founded Tropical
American Tree Farms.
Together with their team, the Brunners are
busy turning Campo Real, a 1,400 acre cattle ranch in Costa Rica, into a tropical hardwood
tree farm. Land, that until a generation ago was covered by tropical rainforest,
until the former owners cleared it to graze cattle, will once again be covered by tropical
trees.
Only this time the trees will be selected
tropical hardwood species, carefully hand-planted in neat rows and groomed for later
harvest.
The roots of Tropical American Tree Farms
go back to 1973 when Steve began traveling regularly to Costa Rica to oversee four
farms on the Pacific Coast that he and a group of investors had bought there.
"For nearly twenty years, I watched in
dismay as, piece by piece, the tropical forests disappeared, as neighboring farmers cut
and burned their forests and plumes of smoke announced the beginning of each new dry
season," explained Steve.
In 1991, after years of research, Steve and
his wife Sherry, decided to devote the rest of their lives to planting tropical hardwood
trees for later harvest to provide a product very much in demand - tropical hardwoods from
a sustainable source - and to relieve the pressure on the natural rainforest, while also
working to slow tropical deforestation through education.
In July of 1991, working carefully with
their tropical foresters, Steve and Sherry selected Campo Real as the site of their tree
farm. The foresters prepared a comprehensive forestry plan, which includes planting
more than 300,000 trees of more than 30 species - including teak, peroba rosa, goncalo
alves, Brazilian rosewood, guanacaste, madero negro, purpleheart, trebol, lapacho,
nargusta, idigbo and sura.
In addition to the tropical hardwood trees,
the Brunners are also planting thousands of trees that will never be harvested - trees
along the river and stream banks to preserve the waterways, flowering, fruiting and
shelter trees to attract and feed the birds and animals, and permanent corridors of
natural habitat to connect the existing patches of remaining forest.
In 1992, their first planting season, the
Brunners' team planted a little more than 62,000 tropical trees.
Sherry had the idea of sharing their unique
opportunity with others. "I felt that if we planted trees by contract for
others who would enjoy owning their own tropical hardwood trees," Sherry reasoned,
"we could plant many more trees than just those for own account, and our new tree
owners and their families would likely become active advocates for solving the problem of
tropical deforestation."
Sherry's idea was right. "This
past year we planted more than 23,000 trees for other tree owners. All of them are
excited to be doing something beneficial for the world," Sherry reported.
"Many are also excited about traveling to Costa Rica to visit their trees.
They can explore Campo Real's 1,400 acres, and enjoy its several waterfalls, 2 1/2 miles
of river and nearly 300 acres of rainforest."
In addition to planting trees, the Brunners
are teaching the children in Costa Rica, and their families, about the importance of
protecting the rainforests and the value in planting trees. And they are making
their tree farm available to study groups.
Steve and Sherry have also developed a
video about their project and a slide presentation for groups in the U.S., emphasizing the
importance of saving our rainforests and the role that tropical tree farms can play.
On May 1st The National Arbor Day
Foundation presented Steve and Sherry with the 1993 National Arbor Day Good Steward Award
for their work in Costa Rica.
If you would like more information, you may
call Steve and Sherry at 614-443-5300 or write them at 717 City Park Avenue, Columbus, OH
43206. (TATF note: This address is now obsolete. Please go to How to Contact Us.) |
