# In Situ Conservation



## btpmsi (Sep 15, 2008)

"I have thought about buying some land myself, but after looking a bit found that it was very hard to get a valid deed or if you did they were rarely honored due to the corruption of some of the governments. Im sure this differs per location, and Im sure there is more to it than the brief information I had found. 
__________________"

First Post here, so hopefully I have picked the right spot for this!! Greetings! I am happy to have found you all. The above quote was one of Kyle's from an old thread on smuggling. I found it as I searched the site for some references to "In situ conservation"; a topic near and dear to me since I am negotiating the purchase of a 4000 hectare sized "Conservation Concession" in Peru. This concession was established some years ago with the intent of providing research opportunities to Academia, so the facilities are simple, but well built and cared for and the animal/plant diversity there is extremely high from mammals to amphibians. Mahogany miners came through the area some 8-10 years ago in a non-mechanized fashion, leaving the bulk of the forest in very good condition. They are doing a wonderful job protecting the forest there, as evidence I point to the rich populations of Tapir, Howler monkeys, Harpy eagles and Tamarins I have seen/heard there. The locals truly are caretaking this area, because from it they are making a very nice livelyhood, supporting their families and their homeland in one motion. I personally feel that the only way to maintain the forest there will be if the locals are shown why and how to value it, so to me this is the best way I can do my part to save this little "slice of heaven", putting my money where my mouth is..........  

What I am looking for, and the reason why I am posting is to see if any of you can steer me towards information regarding "In Situ" conservation models in current use. I read Rainer Schulte's discussion on the web about "Frog Ranching" (attaching plastic cups to trees in the forest, etc.), but have not been able to find any furter discussion about how well it worked, etc.

As an example, a friend of mine in Peru, a local, has started a program based on the idea of buying River turtle eggs that would ordinarly be eaten by the natives, (or sold in the local markets for food) hatching and raising them for ultimate release of the animals back into the river. To go a little further, he is now looking at exporting a certain percentage of these overseas, the proceeds of their sale going to support further egg purchase, etc. The idea being to make the locals see a "sustainable" value in their forest, over and above the slash and burn approach. Something for the long term, when so much of their lives are now concerned with very short-term challenges (i.e. feeding their kids)

In summary, I think what I'm looking for are accounts of successes and failures that document these types of sustained "uses" of the forest, to help me be creative. I see no reason why the same models can't be applied here for helping the locals, help themselves. Does anyone here have personal experience with this? OR perhaps you can steer me in the right direction. I have lots of ideas, but it would be helpful to find others in this field with which I can "compare notes" and form an approach.

Thanks in advance,

Brian


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## dwdragon (Aug 14, 2008)

I started getting into Acai Juices and what not when they became available at the supermarket.

I did a little research on the company called Bossa Nova. This sounds like what they are doing. Here is a quote from the Latin Trade Magazine:



> Acai Berries
> 
> Berry Good Business
> 
> ...


It is obviously not in this article and I can't find where I read it but there was an article about acai juice manufacturers working with the locals in trying to preserve the trees. Obviously this is a business move that also benefits the environment. The business end being that I believe they have been unable to farm such trees in the US and have only been able to get the fruits from the rainforests. Therefore keeping the trees from being cut down or the slash and burn method is good for business. It is not like they can just grow 100 ft+ trees overnight.

At any rate the article pointed out where the company was specifically working with the locals and hiring them to harvest the fruits so that the trickle of money going to workers was local and therefore would prompt them more to protect the trees and surrounding forest they are harvesting since these palms are also cut down in mass quantity for "heart of the palm" as well as wood and other products.


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## scott r (Mar 2, 2008)

I don't mean to hijack your post, but I want to comment on the mention you made to the mahagany miners.
Alot of forest is being cleared for agriculture and mining. And it makes the news alot.

I use alot of Hardwoods from Central and South America. I usually buy an entire tree trunk. The trunk goes to a mill in California where it is milled into board lumber and spindle stock. It is then loaded onto a truck and delivered to me.
The forests that the trees come from are locally owned forests. Before buying "my" tree, I must purchase 10 saplings of the same species at an inflated price. The saplings are planted in the forest that the tree came from, and the additional funds are used to purchase more land. The number of trees that are cut are limited each year, and they are cut by hand and drug out so there is no deforestation other than some fire lanes. And the inhabitants of the forests keep their homes.

The local people are trying to conserve what they have.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Not to hijack the thread further, but I like the idea behind planting 10 saplings for every one cut down, but I am very curious how successful that actually is. With the huge amount of competition in the rainforest, I wonder if those saplings actually survive, or what the percentage of survival is. The selective cutting like that really is the best for the forest.

On topic, you might consider contacting Brian Kubicki (Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center) or Mark Pepper (Understory Enterprises) about their successes in this field.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

I just wanted to echo JP's recommendation of contacting Brian Kubicki (Costa Rica) and/or Mark Pepper (Peru).


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## btpmsi (Sep 15, 2008)

skylsdale said:


> I just wanted to echo JP's recommendation of contacting Brian Kubicki (Costa Rica) and/or Mark Pepper (Peru).


Thanks! Brian's website appears to be down. Has anyone been able to contact him lately? Understory Enterprises Site is a nice one. Thanks for the leads.

Brian


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