El Cañoncillo Natural Forest Private Conservation Area has three lagoons: Gallinazo, Larga and Cañoncillo. Creeping weeds and bushes have been obscuring the view of visitors to one of the lagoons, Gallinazo. As a result, La Libertad Dry Forest project conducted a harvesting campaign of the lagoon in May this year with the Agricultural Cooperative of Tecapa (CAU) and the Cañoncillo Forest Craftswomen Association. The harvesting campaign was to provide the artisan women’s group hand harvested natural resources to make their handicrafts but the right materials were not found. The project team acquired wool, and different local grasses such as viruli and reeds for the craftswomen to use. These resources helped motivate the craftswomen to meet and make their handicrafts. In addition, the women were trained to improve their products in Artisan workshops and explore new alternatives for their development. Selling non-timber products contributes to sustainable, forest-friendly livelihoods that help preserve the dry forest and sustain livelihoods.
A new garden of joy in Chiclayo
Our Inglesa Verde project continues to grow in 2022 with a second mini-project implemented in the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church in Peru (IEPRP) called Fuente de Vida in Chiclayo. The Jardín de Alegría mini-project was implemented with the collaboration of Pastor Mateo Galuk, and members of the church, such as sisters; Hanna, Rosario, Soledad, Yaqueline, Cheila, and Julifer. Workshops were held to develop the mini-project with the children of the neighborhood and the church. Workshops were also conducted in Los Jardines de Santa Rosa and Los Niños de Jesús institutions educating students about the problems they have in the locality. Topics for the workshops included water care, composting, and recycling. Additionally, there were practical activities such as planting geraniums, cleaning and weeding the gardens, putting up a fence and painting a mural that motivates the community to take care of creation.
Three clean-up campaigns were also carried out with the participation of members of the church and the neighborhood community in the gardens of Santa Rosa and the surrounding area. Also, at the end of June, the Jardín de Alegría mini-project had a closing party in which diplomas were given in recognition of the participation and commitment of the children in the development of the mini-project. It was a great success!
Successful seedling production for reforestation campaign
One of our most important activities for the year is the production of native seedlings for our reforestation campaigns. This activity commenced In March this year. The team searched for native seeds of dry forest species such as Algarrobo and Hawthorn. We coordinated with the local farmers to enter their stockyards and extract the seeds from cattle manure. The manure was sifted and cleaned to extract the seeds. About 1 kg of Algarrobo seeds and 1.5 kg of Hawthorn seeds were obtained. The seeds were delivered to the local municipal nursery in San Pedro de Lloc and seedlings were planted and bagged. 235 native Algarrobo seedlings and 40 hawthorn seedlings germinated at the nursery. This seedling production was used in our first reforestation campaign of the year in July where they were planted in a 3-hectare area located in La Laguna El Muerto Forest with the collaboration of Mr. Luis Castañeda. Thank you for all those involved!