Time is not on their side. The construction of a new road is making the mountainous area easily accessible, leading to intensified pressure from timber companies and commercial cattle farms, which are buying land from small farmers. Unfortunately there is another interests party, a cattle farmer who intends to clear the land immediately. The project coordinator Piet Sabbe believes the success of the project lies in educating the local farmers in agroforestry and and forest farming. A number of farmers have already completed a seminar in nursery techniques for indigenous trees and some have been trained as extensionists.
Families living here survive by cutting down timber and raising cattle.
Bernardo Beate, a geologist assisting the project, explains what happens when the land is cleared for cattle or timber harvest. Thich humus-rich soil is readily removed by landslides and running water on deforested areas, leaving bare bedrock behind. Local farmers could be swayed by the lure of easy money into helping the companies turn their own backyards into wasteland. The organisation is seeking support from environmentalists in Europe and elsewhere for the further development of educational programmes, the setting up of tree nurseries and the plantation of trees on agroforestry sites, research on the management of genetic resources and further purchase of forest. The funding we receive will determine how much of this rain forest can be saved.