Rebuilding Forests

Countries with long histories of deforestation, like Nicaragua, are more vulnerable to flooding, erosion, landslides, drought, and forest fires than those with less degraded ecosystems.  Impoverished communities that depend upon these ecosystems for food, water, and raw materials find their landscape stripped of the natural resources they need to survive. (Read more about the issue of Deforestation.)

Restoring Nicaragua's forests is one of Paso Pacifico's top priorities. Our award-winning reforestation and climate change mitigation project, Return to Forest, worked with private landowners to reforest 1,000 acres of tropical dry and moist forests with native trees, receiving carbon credits in return. Our various smaller-scale reforestation projects have provided technical assistance and advice to individual landowners, cooperatives, and communities who are interested in reforesting their properties. 

Paso Pacifico takes a holistic approach to natural resource management, an especially important technique for our reforestation projects. Our projects not only plant new trees, but help create jobs in natural resource management, which increases community buy-in and reduces future risks of degradation. We maximize market connections for women who are running their own microenterprise Tree Nurseries by purchasing their tree seedlings directly and referring them to interested parties.  With our help, landowners are establishing Private Reserves on their reforested properties in an effort to expand the network of protected areas in the Paso del Istmo.