Yesterday afternoon, after the visit to the cacao plantation, the group went to nearby Finca Marbella to plant seedlings in a forest restoration project. We planted seedlings, grown in nurseries at ITEC. We hiked in about 20 minutes from the boats to area where we did the planting. The afternoon sun was very hot, but we planted about 220 plants. After we returned, and were refreshed, we all felt a sense of accomplishment in helping restore a patch of native forest. Forest restoration is different than reforestation in that in that there is an attempt to recreate the original native forest. ITEC was been collecting seeds from trees around the island and the mainland as well. Earlier, students helped transplant small seedlings into larger pots in preparation for them to be planted in the forest. Click on Cacao Plantation and planting seedlings to see photos of our tree planting.
