Reforestation in Honduras

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Café Organico Marcala (COMSA) is a cooperative of 1,573 small coffee producers in Márcala, La Paz, Honduras. COMSA has a strong history as a leader in the organic coffee industry and a strong history of reforestation. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic and hurricanes devastating the region, COMSA like many other small-scale farmer cooperatives has had to prioritize their funding to go to immediate relief needs. We teamed up to launch a campaign to plant 40,000 trees to keep their reforestation and agroforestry programs moving forward!

The project’s main aims were

• Promote agroforestry among coffee farmers through planting trees alongside coffee crops for conservation and protection of the environment. 
• Reforest part of the forest damaged by the bark beetle infestation in the area thus improving water retention, temperature regulation, oxygen production, increased carbon fixation, and biodiversity of wildlife.
• Reforest micro-basins and sub-basins, to contribute to the recovery and protection of water flows through the planting of timber species such as pine, sweetgum, laurel and gravileum that fulfill environmental functions.

The Finca Biodinamica La Fortaleza is a Center of Knowledge Sharing, meaning they do farmer exchanges with both members of their cooperative, neighboring communities and small-scale farmer organizations from all over. COMSA and the Finca Biodinamica are internationally recognized for their trainings on organic farming, soil health and agricultural microbiology, micro-organisms and composting techniques, and their holistic approach to growing that centers values such as justice, solidarity, peace and reconciliation of the human being with the cosmos, the earth and with the farmer.

The project worked with students from the COMSA International School and various community associations. The Finca Biodinamica La Fortaleza provided them with a number of trees and they were responsible for transporting, planting, caring for them in accordance with the reforestation plan. The project created public educational centers along with awareness campaigns on the importance of planting hardwood species, training for the planting of trees in micro-watersheds, sub-watersheds and on coffee farms.