The history of our
forest in Nicaragua
The Nicametsätila Cooperative buys land that is already considered almost worthless by local people, that has been cleared (at least of all valuable trees), bare grazed or otherwise very poorly maintained, and restores it to biodiversity-rich commercial forests. We currently only operate in Nicaragua, but may gradually expand to other tropical countries in the future.
introductory video
The amount of the contribution is 1,300 euros , which is used to acquire 0.7 hectares of land. In Nicaragua, the land sales unit is one manzana (0.7 ha). In addition, there will be a monthly (max. 50 euros) surcharge, which will be used for the salary costs and other small farm maintenance costs of the local farm manager. The amount of this fee is decided annually by the Board of the Nice Forest Cooperative.
Diverse commercial forest
Diverse or biodiversity-rich commercial forest means the use of organic and ecologically sustainable silvicultural methods in all plantings and other management measures. One of the starting points is the utilization of naturally generated seedling material and the supplementation of this potential with one's own seedling production. We are creating a valuable forest of wood species known locally and partly on the world market in the area, with a rotation time of about 15-30 years, depending on the tree species and weather conditions. All future felling will be carried out in accordance with the principles of continuous cultivation, ie as small-scale selective felling without damaging other trees and vegetation.
Are we robbing farmland of local people?
One reason for the loss of the world’s forests, which is talked about too little, is the lack of successful afforestation examples. Forests are not seen as profitable investments, but only in a cleared pasture or agricultural area, people see economic value. Sure, individual valuables are collected before the area is cleared and plowed, but the meaningfulness of planting them is not seen, as a waiting period of more than 15 years for productivity is seen as a desirable distant and uncertain investment. Any investment must generate local cash already within (at least a few) years, otherwise it may not be profitable, no matter how high the expected return (potential).
With our own example, we are trying to make up for this shortcoming and also make local people understand the importance of afforestation, not only from the point of view of nature conservation but also from the point of view of economic exploitation. The biodiversity-rich commercial forest also restores to the area other plant and animal populations that have already been completely lost in many places and have always been part of the local way of life and habitat. In other words, we are not plundering local farmland, but restoring and diversifying the livelihoods of the people living in the area in the face of increasingly unpredictable climate change. In Nicaragua, for example, the previous two rainy seasons have been the worst ever in the country’s entire history (became independent in 1821).
Welcome to the Nicametsätila
Join the
action!
We are buying more land for our cooperative to be afforested in the spring of 2020. This means adding new members to our cooperative.
The amount of the contribution is reviewed every year at our annual meeting and will probably increase slightly each year as the price of land also rises in Nicaragua. If you are interested in joining our cooperative and acquiring your own forest share at that price, please contact Antti Pelttari by 31 December 2017 at the latest.