In 2008 we initiated activities in the Javier Chamorro Mora Forestry Project and by the end of 2009 we planted the first 800 hectares. The goal of this project is to plant 7,500 hectares of deforested land with both native and exotic tree species over the next 15 years.

The Javier Chamorro Mora Forestry Project includes:

• Development of a commercial forestry exploitation project with capacity for more than 8 million seedlings in a 7,500-hectare area over a 15-year period.
• Creation of a plant nursery that uses modern techniques such as tubetes, or biopots, acquired in Brazil, combined with traditional planting methods.
• A production model that takes advantage of lands devastated by agricultural, lumbering and livestock use. In Hemco we identify these properties and later buy them to convert them into forests.
• Incentives are provided for the production of 12 species, 4 of them exotic (teak, yellow cassia, pink cedar and Melina); species native to Bonanza (mahogany, quebracho, royal cedar and Santa María); and other species native to Nicaragua (Caribbean pine, madero negro, guanacaste and janissary).
• The new forest mass, the first experience of this type of leafy species project in the RAAN, is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• The initiative promotes biodiversity and protection of the hydrographic basins.
• To make the project more efficient and to strengthen local capacities, we have agreed to contract the services of the Foresters Cooperative of Bonanza (COOSBA R.L), which will be in charge of directing and producing the nursery and plantations mentioned above.
• It generates an average 500 field jobs per year, spread among the production of plants in nurseries, preparation of areas, plantations, protection and maintenance. It also strengthens the local human resource, giving greater emphasis to the female labor force.

In 2009 we participated in the National Reforestation Campaign coordinated by the National Forestry Institute (INAFOR), donating 100,000 seedlings of high genetic quality.

This same year, in coordination with the Norwegian company Norteak, we created the Norteak Maderas Company, which will specialize in establishing plantations, production, research and marketing of the forestry products of Hemco and Norteak.

Norteak is part of the Association of Forestry Producers of Norway. Its technical unit, Norskog, made up of 250 forest owners, has 1.2 million hectares of forests and harvests 1 million m3 of lumber annually in different countries around the world.

Our forestry activity also includes implementation of a Joint Forestry Development and Training Project, with the participation of the Bonanza mayor’s office, the National Technological Institute (INATEC), the Forestry Cooperative of Bonanza (COOSBA, RL) and the German Social-Technical Cooperation Service (DED).

The project’s objective is to maximize lumber’s value chain by adding manufacturing value in Bonanza. COOSBA, RL has been provided with carpentry equipment and training.

Was Tuna: “where the water is born”

Within our forestry activity we are creating the first private forest reserve in the RAAN. This reserve, called Was Tuna, which means where the water was born in Mayangna, has an extension of more than 130 hectares. It was created by Hemco to conserve the forest resource, vital for capturing humidity and maintaining the depth of the Rio Concha Urrutia, which supplies drinking water to Bonanza.

Was Tuna has both tall trees and a diversity of species characteristic of the rainforest such as tree ferns, creepers, palms and herbaceous plants. Among its fauna are deer, Nicaraguan agouti, peacocks, parrots, sloths, chachalaca birds, armadillos and congo monkeys. It also has a majestic 10-meter waterfall.

With these activities, we in Hemco are helping to strengthen Bonanza’s forest mass, which will guarantee that it continues to be a green municipality of vital importance because it is located within the buffer zone of the Bosawa’s reserve. This new forest mass is the first experience of its type in projects of leafy species in the RAAN.

In July 2009 MARENA formally recognized our contribution to the National Protected Areas System through the sustainable natural resource conservation and management of this reserve. This recognition was granted for our active participation in protecting and recovering the region’s natural resources and represents an important stimulus, as it reflects the exercise of a responsible business policy.