At our final event of 2024, we celebrated the accomplishments of the Hispanic Forest Landowners Outreach Program in Puerto Rico. Participants had the opportunity to network with representatives of various agencies and organizations that could be helpful to their agricultural projects and conservation efforts.

Participants immersed themselves in nature, exploring demonstrations of how Heriberto Martínez Méndez of mano-Y-ola has integrated conservation practices into his farm.

In the second workshop centered on bats, participants built bat houses with the Puerto Rico Bat Conservation Program to advance bat conservation efforts on the island.

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company shared information about programs that forest landowners in Puerto Rico can participate in, including programs that benefit the landowners and/or the ecosystem.

Andrés Rúa of PR Hardwoods, which focuses on salvaged and sustainably harvested timber trees, discussed the importance of integrating timber trees into forest systems in Puerto Rico.

Miguel Moya shared his extensive knowledge of bees and other pollinators with participants, including how these important insects can be integrated into agroforestry systems.

In this collaboration with the Puerto Rico Bat Conservation Program, participants learned about the importance of conserving and creating habitat for these amazing nocturnal pollinators and learned how to create ways for bats to leave buildings without being harmed.

Edwin Más of mano-Y-ola/Asekia gave an introductory presentation about agroforestry systems, followed by the Cruz family’s demonstration of cultivating coffee as part of an agroforestry system. Participants also learned how to make tools that are helpful in agroforestry systems.

Carlos (Carli) Díaz Palmer, who specializes in grafting fruit trees, guided participants through the process of grafting their own fruit tree. Carli’s work helps to increase the resiliency of fruit trees in Puerto Rico to extreme weather such as hurricanes.

In the first workshop of our 2024 forestry series, Manuel Baez led participants on an interactive tour of his family’s farm, Finca Gaia, and shared helpful tips on how to correctly prune trees.