Volunteer
Las Tolas
Plant a Tree
Each tree is $10 each to plant.
The tree options for you to choose are below - all are indigenous to the local area in the cloud forest and provide an important role for the ecosystem and community:
EL DRAGO
A smooth wood with a white colour. Useful for medicinal purposes (El Sangre de Drago). Useful in the summer as it conserves the humidity and so prevents the forest from drying out in the summer. Fruits and seeds are used by birds, eg parrots and insects for the chipmunks.
Madera suave de color blanco. Sirve como medicinal – el sangre de drago. Aporta a la protección de agua (corteza y ojas) – en el verano, guarda la humedad. Fruta y semillas para los aves eg. Loros y insectos para las ardillas.
EL CAUCHIN
A smooth wood with a white colour. The seeds are used by a lot of species. Lots of orchids live on its bark.
Madera suave de color blanca. Semillas para muchas especies. Muchas orcheídas y bromelias viven en su corteza.
EL TARKI
In danger of extinction. It is a difficult tree to grow and there are only a few seeds. The seeds are eaten by the large birds and monkeys.
En peligro de extinción por que es un especie dificil de propagar y son muy pocas semillas. Semillas les gustan las aves grandes (eg. paves, loros, palomas), los monos.
EL PULGOSO
A smooth wood. Has seeds that the birds like. It is a useful tree but only gives fruits occasionally (eg. every 6-8 years).
Madera suave. Semillas para las aves. Bueno – pero pocos años se da frutas (6-8 años).
With thanks to Edgar and Cecilia Delgado for the tree descriptions and uses.
EL DRAGO
EL CAUCHIN
EL PULGOSO
By planting a tree today, you will make a difference for the future.
The Las Tolas community are carrying out re-forestation across the area around the village and surrounding forest area. By buying a tree, you will be able to support a member of our team to plant your tree/s and contribute to this vital re-forestation effort.
COMMUNITY CHOICE
Or let the community choose - plant a range of trees of the communities choice, to reflect the local biodiversity. Additional tree choices include: el cedro, el tangare, el teniche, el arroyan blanco, guavas..and many more.
Benefits of sponsoring a tree
When you purchase a tree to plant, you will receive the following benefits, as a token of our appreciation:
- A personalised certificate of sponsorship
- Your chance to send a message to the community or add a comment to our book of donations
- Updates on how our re-forestation project is progressing through our Las Tolas community
Frequently asked questions
How will my sponsorship be used?
Your sponsorship will cover the cost of planting a tree in the cloud forest around the village of Las Tolas and the care for your tree until it is planted out. 100% of your sponsorship will go directly to the community.
Who will plant my tree?
In the Las Tolas community, there is a community group that have
come together to work on community projects, host our volunteers
and manage their local area for the benefit of future generations.
It is this group that look after the trees in the nursery and will plant
your tree into its new home.
The community group pictured here are:
Edgar, Salomon, Ruben, Santiago, Oliva, Gloria, Mariana, Sebastian,
Rosario, Gabriella and Cecilia.
Where do you get the trees from?
What is the history of the re-forestation project?
Back in the 1980s, the Las Tolas communities primary source of income was derived from the cutting of trees. This inevitably created deforestation problems. In response to this, Renee, a member of the community, decided to implement a conservation initiative which aimed to promote alternate ways of living which did not involve the foresting of trees.
However, this decision was not without consequences. By choosing to stop selling wood, the people who decided to follow this initiative lost important revenue. In Renee’s case, he decided to become a craftsman which led to a considerable change in income.
Later, as the communities desire to preserve the local environment grew, they created a new project which aimed to preserve and reforest the local cloud forest. This project was backed up by representatives of American grassroot NGOs which allowed the project to be implemented with ease. In addition, several members of the community (Mariana, Salomon and Rosario) attended tourism classes in order to be able to promote their ideas on an international platform and attract volunteers.
As the project developed, a small group called the “Grupo de Turismo” formed to regulate and supervise the project all the whilst developing Las Tolas’ tourist industry. Since then, the Las Tolas community have been working passionately to preserve the wonderful environment they live in. Nevertheless, they cannot do so without financial aid which is why your help is needed. The Las Padrinos project is the last idea that was set into motion in order to aid the community.
What can I do if I want to further contribute to the cause?
You could:
- Sign up to be a local volunteer and help the community develop the project first hand. Learn more about it on the Volunteer or Volunteer Projects of our website.
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- Become a padrino for a tree and preserve an important tree in Las Tolas for a year/years to come. Visit our 'Preserve a Tree' page.
- Talk to our volunteer co-ordinator, Teresa, about more ways to contribute or get involved, by e-mailing: volunteerlastolas@gmail.com
Your tree will be planted from seed and grown in the Las Tolas community.
All of our trees come from seeds collected by the villagers from the cloud forest. These are then planted in natural compost in little containers and grown on until they are large enough to be planted out in the cloud forest.
They are carefully tended for by the community, using organic methods only.