That
erosion is so powerful that the ground-to escape under bridges, roads and other i NFRASTRUCTURE made these
collapse,
generating huge potholes, also documented in the photos. The effects of erosion will not only be immediate (damage to infrastructure). The rain, no doubt, has "washed" soil nutrients, which will hurt agricultural production place and can cost large sums of money in terms of fertilizer and fertilizers.
One of the many functions performed by set of trees and other plants that we call "forest" is to avoid erosion. The tops of the trees of the forest form a "roof" close enough to cushion the impact of drops of the torrential downpours. Moreover, under the uppermost layer of foliage intermediate layers are formed by the shrubs, trees juveniles and some herbs, which further dampens the shock of the season. Water also seeps gently on the twigs and branches of all the vegetation and some of that water is trapped by the bark of trees, all of which further contributes to reduce the erosive impact of water. In the forests and forest soil has a thick layer of leaves and twigs that fall, known as litter.
When the drops that are not captured in the canopy hit the ground, do not impact directly , but the cushioning litter. To make matters worse, the roots of the trees form a "network" on the ground, and different species of plants have roots with varying depths, which also varies between plants of different sizes. The result is an efficient network that ties deep "blocks" of soil. All of the above prevents erosion, and that's why you see that when there are many hectares of forest, rivers have clarita water, regardless of how much stronger the rain. There may be innundaciones, but the water is chocolate brown and the roads do not collapse. For all of this we refer to ecologists trees as "ecological engineers", as there is no genius capable of replacing the service that forests provide us free. We should learn from our indigenous people, who always cares for the forest and know how to make wood, food, medicine and other resources away unharmed.
A fact
important Boquete Coffee Zone and Café is a "tree "
.
Yes, as the plantings are trees, protect the soil better than others plantations (such as potatoes, also produced in Boquete). But that's of little worth, as is confirmed by the photos. Why? Compare to a coffee plantation with the forest: there is only a covering layer in the canopy, the roots do not occupy different soil layers (it is a single species of tree), the space between a coffee and one-or a tree and another of coffee, is not equally protected from impact of rain compared with closed canopy forest. The alternative is clear: to produce shade-grown coffee. If producers want to keep your soil runoff, nutrients and save losing inputs, should ask themselves whether they need to improve their use of shade trees. Fortunately, many coffee aware of this tradition, so they are not proposing anything foreign to their customs.
If trees like coffee better counteract erosion, crops such as potatoes and vegetables, then the erosion in Cerro Punta must be much more dramatic than Boquete .
Indeed, that is, you can check it yourself using free computer software "google earth". Internet Download it, look at the map of Panama, stand and move about Cerro Punta plane so it looks three-dimensional structure of the mountains. You will see how satellite images from NASA (used by google earth) indicate that the rivers are chocolate brown, without more torrential rain than normal. Again, this brings not only ecological losses but also impairs the pockets of producers. And, once again, it can be counter-though not entirely, planting trees and shrubs alternating with vegetables.
Many of these trees can be fruit, which helps make them even more profitable
.
Moreover, dozens (perhaps hundreds) of scientific research worldwide, including Panama, indicate that, to have deeper roots of shrubs, the trees recover nutrients from the soil that the roots of the vegetables can not reach. When these trees fall leaves, compost to the soil and vegetable stand to gain, reducing input costs (just need to know to prevent the vegetables are covered by litter, which is accomplished by "cerritos ground few centimeters in height and placing the vegetables on these little hills. These methods are also part of organic agriculture, practiced by a number minority, but significant, farmers I met in Cerro Punta, and interacting with young students from the General Basic School Cerro Punta, led by agronomist Rafael Uribe, who had the good fortune of working. Good promise for future generations, but it must be further encouraged.
alternative agriculture and the use of shade trees are not enough. 
The national government and local governments have to know how to manage land
the country and each locality. Large landowners are thirsty for money: hoard huge tracts of land, maintained as a "Peladero" and we saw in the photos which are the results. Do not give me the story that the fault of the indigenous and small farmers who walk Santeño slash and burn: it is pure simplicity. Subsistence agriculture made slash-and-burn has the following characteristics: (1) takes up little ground, (2) is diversified (not produced a single thing), and (3)
In about three years, land is abandoned to the jungle (the straw) to regrow , which in like 15 years (slightly more, slightly less depending on location) causes the soil to become fertile again. The low level means little deforestation for each farmer, the problem is that landowners have so much land for them all alone, thousands of peasants are forced to migrate to the forests. When many of them are concentrated in a wooded site, the sum of many small plots can amount to a large deforestation. Is precisely what is happening in Bocas del Toro Panama in Figures consult and ANAM data and see how there is reduced wooded areas. It's as easy as to be put down hard on the land grabbers selfish and encourage farmers settlers return to their places of origin. No doubt I'll win the unwillingness of some to write this
: no exaggeration to say that "of presidential candidates is in Panama right now, only Prof. John Jované has the will and the courage to take such a measure.
Finally, back to Boquete. Nearby, although at lower altitudes that the area maker, is building a hydroelectric
. I visited there during the dry season: acres and acres have been so severely deforested did not need the rain, because the only wind and soil was eroding both the polvarín not hardly breathe.
The
s hydropower are worthless if
deforestation alters the water regime
.
If these hydropower builders are not required by the authorities to protect the environment, the actual cost of the works is greater than recorded, because a Eroded soil is a barren land, which produces no food, and a river full of mud demand special attention to drinking water can even be used to generate energy, which increases costs. If you do not care about the people and the environment because they have no heart, at least show they have brains: Worry about the money.
_______________________________ The author is Ecologist, Panama, specialist in forests, recovery
and crop effects on soil quality
.
M ember of the Association of Biologists of Panama. University of Goettingen (Germany). Readers have my (author) consent to share this message and send it to the press and authorities.
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