Last week I discussed some of the deforestation that is happening throughout Panama. The depletion of rainforest is a very real problem with powerful socioeconomic repercussions. For instance, the deforestation of the Darien Jungle would open passage by land from Colombia, and all of South America, through Panama all the way to Alaska via the Pan-American Highway. Presently, the Darien Gap serves as a natural boundary between South and North America, and the elimination of this barrier would allow for the easier passage of disease, drugs, people and anything else.

In order to combat deforestation, several interesting ideas have been proposed. The firstone , which was mentioned in last week’s post, is the harvesting of wood that has been inundated by the formation of Lake Gatun in the Panama Canal. You can read more about it here.

Trees that have been underwater since the building of the Canal are harvested

Another source for sustainable hardwoods comes from the results of Hurricane Felix. In 2007, Felix felled millions of hardwood trees in Nicaragua. They are now being sold into projects all over the globe. Read about it here.

The third option I found won’t be ready for a couple of decades, but its a sustainable hardwood source in the already deforested portion of Darien. As a sustainable contribution, a company rents land long-term from poor farmers to boost their income. They then plant a variety of native and non-native species to be cultivated down the road. The land remains property of the Panamanian owner and the company donates money to sustainable projects within the community. As such, the investors make a profit but the land remains Panamanian and generates profit within the community. It’s called Panting Empowerment and you can read about it here.