Our journey began with getting to know the community.
el triunfo “the triumph.”
A great example of our work, El Triunfo (“the triumph”) is a 40 hectare rural property about 100 kilometers North of the city of Tarapoto, Peru.
This region is part of the uppermost reaches of the Amazon Basin with high temperatures and rain almost throughout the year. The land is undulating with well drained hills, small creeks and a mix of native forest, planted trees, a pond and rural residence. Although we don’t know for sure when the land was originally cleared, shifting cultivation has been used for centuries in this region. We purchased the property in 2002 and employ a guardian and partner, Javier Arevalo Tangoa, who lives in the residence with his wife Marcela and children. Coincidentally, the property belonged to Javier’s grandmother at some point in the past and the location of her original house is still evident.
We manage El Triunfo for forest values in a zoned triad of 1) intensive high value hardwood plantations, 2) extensive reforestation with fast growing native species, and the largest proportion of the property in 3) native forest conservation. When we bought the land the portions that had been cleared were being used to raise cattle and were heavily degraded by overgrazing and compaction. Our journey began with getting to know the community, setting out areas for intensive production, figuring out where to acquire inputs such as seed and fertilizer and simply finding consistent means of communication from afar when not there.
Today we have a small amount of intensively managed mature teak (Tectona grandis), about five hectares reforested with marupa ( Simarouba alba ) and other species including a few high value trees such as mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla ) and tropical cedar ( Cedrela odorata ). The largest and most impressive part of the property is conserved as native rainforest.