Blog By Marvin Lopez, Botanics Assistant.
Little more than 10 years ago Conservation Osa started and I have been part of the changes that have happened since then. During all this time the organization has been growing little by little gaining experience as the different projects progressed. Today, we are taking new directions with new projects and one of these is the creation of an Arboretum. For this, new staff have arrived with great enthusiasm for the plants putting great effort and dedication to achieve this goal.
Recently we received the good news that the company has obtained the Arboretum level 1 accreditation granted by ArbNet and The Morton Arboretum for the development and professionalism of our arboretum, this fills us with joy especially to the botanic team and motivates us to continue working hard to continue improving every day so this site will become better estabilshed and work in both research and education for local and international people.
This place, Piro, where the Arboretum has been created, is fortunate to be located in one of the hotspots of mature forest that is possible to find in the area. Here you can see many mature trees more than 40 meters tall, with widespread canopies and trunk diameters of more than 1.5 meters in some cases, such as “ajo” trees. But they are not the only ones that will impress you, there are also other trees that can reach up to 60 meters, there are also many other trees of considerable size and many other plants can be seen in the network trails of this sanctuary created to preserve them.
Thanks to the opportunity they gave me, I have been lucky to be part of this team for the past 2 years, working on botanical projects; I have focused more than anything, on looking for the different tree species that can be found in this region of the country among others. Despite all the years I have walked through these forests, my admiration for these giants has not changed at all.
Marvin Lopez tagging and identifying one of the trees located in the network of Osa Conservation trails that will be part of the arboretum. Photo: Andy Whitworth.
All this requires me to continue working and learning more. Some of the trees we try to propagate are catalogued as threatened and their germination rate seems to be very low, which is a good challenge. To achieve the objectives we have set for these species so that they can be part of the Arboretum and people can come to see them, to learn more about each species and can help contribute to the conservation of forests and nature in general in their communities or places of residence.
