On April 2023, the III Symposium on Cultivation of Native Species was conducted by The National Commission for the Cultivation of Native Species and the CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) in Turrialba, Costa Rica.

The symposium’s main objective was to connect professionals that are working with wood and restoration from native Costa Rican species so they could exchange intelligence on the topic. Most Costa Rican native species are barely studied and tend to have slow growth, so they are not often used in reforestation projects in the country. However, they have valuable wood which can provide sustainable business opportunities.

Here at BARCA we have planted and studied many Costa Rican native species on our farms in the Central Pacific area of the country. Due to this experience, two BARCA employees attended and presented at the symposium. They shared information on two native species BARCA has been working with and genetically improving. Our Chief Forester Ricardo Luján shared information about ‘cristobal’ (Platymiscium curuense) and Operations Manager José Corrales spoke on rosewood or ‘cocobolo’ (Dalbergia retusa).

Both of these species of trees were planted by BARCA between 1994 to 2000, and as they have grown some individuals have become what we consider ‘plus trees’. These individuals have bigger diameters, faster growth, a dominant position in the fields, and straight shafts. Samples from these selected ‘plus trees’ have been collected and cloned in the BARCA nurseries by asexual reproduction. Now, we are conducting studies on the genetic improvement of these species and are optimistic about our current results. We are looking forward to watching the development of our native clones.

Few to no studies have done genetic improvement on these two species and there is very little information on them altogether. This highlights the value and importance of working with native species and being on the lookout for ‘plus trees’. It is crucial this type of work gets recognized as well as talked about, and we were happy to do just that at the CATIE this April.
 

If you would like to hear some more about our ‘plus trees’, feel free to contact us. We would love to hear from you!
 

You can see more about the event at: https://www.catie.ac.cr/en/2023/04/26/simposio-nacional-para-la-restauracion-y-practicas-sostenibles-del-cultivo-forestal-tuvo-lugar-en-el-catie/