ACP Sustainable Forest Cover Establishment Project

The Panama Canal authority (ACP) is implementing the PIEA project (Programa de Incentivos Económicos Ambientales, Environmental Economic Incentives Program) focused on promoting forest restoration, forest and biodiversity conservation, and alternative livelihood through reforestation, as well as silvo-pastoral and agro-forestry systems. The project will cover approximately 10,000 hectares of degraded lands (formerly pasture grassland with low carrying capacity). The forest cover establishment project has been implemented annually since 2006 and is expected continue. So far, 2985 ha of reforestation projects, agro-forestry and silvo-pastoral systems have been established in the project area.The activities and targets under the project are reforestation with commercial and native species, the establishment of agro-forestry and silvo-pastoral systems. All components cover the whole range of operations from nursery establishment and seedling production to planting and maintaining the seedlings. Project activities are expected to improve ecosystems services and provide an alternative source of income to unsustainable practices and abandoned land.Further, the project will help to control the invasive grass specie saccharum spontaneum and will protect the main watersheds form the area to guaranty that enough water is being supply to the Panama Canal.