The Andes mountains in South America have been subject to centuries of deforestation. Wood has been in demand for construction, home fuel, and for firing bricks and tiles. There has been minimal attempts to reforest the mountain slopes, and as a result, erosion is causing landslides and rivers are silting up. Several decades ago, there was a push to grow non-native eucalyptus trees throughout Ecuador and Peru, and these have displaced native species, while poisoning the ground so that native species will not grow for many years after the eucalyptus have been harvested.
Ecuador in just 20 years has detroyed 80% of its forest.
Ecuador,has no current plan for sustainable use of these forests.
We are working with local government, private and NGO foresters to make a reforestation plan, to create nurseries for native tree species, and then hire tree planters to begin reforestation projects. These projects will initially be in the Andes, with some focus on areas damaged by previous mining, but will extend to the Amazon basin and the costal areas of western South America.
We are also initiating projects to adapt new technologies, such as Skycar VTOL aircraft, to be applied in reforesting mountain slopes.
