ÑÜRÜM, Panama — Isidrio Hernandez-Ruiz has a soft spot for the bright yellow flowers of the guayacan trumpet tree (Handroanthus guayacan), a native species that blooms across Panama each spring. It’s one of many reasons why Hernandez-Ruiz, a rural farmer known locally as a campesino, chose to participate in a reforestation effort to plant native […]
  • Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are collaborating with local communities in the Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca, a protected Indigenous territory, to foster a ground-up reforestation strategy using native trees and carbon payments.
  • The project involves about 30 plots totaling 100 hectares (247 acres) of land, giving participants full ownership of their trees.
  • The approach is based on carbon-sequestration data and other scientific metrics collected from Smithsonian’s Agua Salud research site in Colón.
  • The work also leans on economic analyses to ensure that reforestation projects can become reliable and sustainable livelihood strategies for Panama’s rural communities.

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