mano-Y-ola Completes Survey in Puerto Rico

mano-Y-ola's innovative pilot project in Puerto Rico has surveyed 50 forest landowners on the island, and we are using the data from these interviews to assist landowners in reaching their goals and shaping our future efforts.

The survey includes questions about the landowners' concerns, the land-related topics that are most important to them, the ownership status of their land, and agroforestry, among others. Most of the landowners involved in the project are located in western and central Puerto Rico, with ten landowners in the municipality of Mayagüez. In total, 1,138 cuerdas were included in the survey. (Cuerdas are used to measure land area in Puerto Rico. 1 cuerda = approximately 0.971 acres.)

Dedicating time and resources to meet one-on-one with forest landowners across the island sets this work apart.

"In terms of what makes this project and this data unique, first of all, we're doing it in person," said mYo Program Manager Adrian Parrott, which helps to build trust.

mYo's Chief Agronomist, Heriberto Martínez Méndez, conducted all 50 visits and surveys last year.

For more background about the Puerto Rico pilot project, check out our June 2023 newsletter here.

Data collected from the surveys is used to create programming that benefits landowners. For example, Heriberto is organizing ten workshops this year to enable landowners to dive into topics ranging from bird identification to agroforestry.

"It is both a research tool and a tool to build active and engaging programming in real time," Adrian said.

Key Findings

The Agroforestry section of the chart represents landowners that have crops, pasture,

or livestock in addition to forestland.

Of the landowners surveyed, 70 percent use agroforestry - meaning they have agricultural land and forestland on their property. The remaining 30 percent of landowners have only woodland.

"We see that as a possibility for applying a greater diversity of practices, including silvopasture,” Adrian said.

Also, 58 percent of the landowners surveyed own their land and have a title, facilitating participation in government programs. An additional 12 percent lease their land through a lease agreement, meaning they can also implement practices on that land.

In terms of helping to create successful programming, the most important questions are "those questions that answer landowner goals and concerns…as well as what they want to do in the future. That will make this successful and meaningful and build engaging workshops and materials that people want to participate in," Adrian said.

According to the survey data, landowners' top areas of importance are scenery, recreation (including ecotourism and making trails), growing agricultural goods, and culture and heritage. On a scale of 1 to 5, with five being the most important, each topic averaged at least 4.76.

Forest health topped the list of concerns. That does not necessarily mean the forest is unhealthy – it is more that the health of the forest is a priority for landowners, Adrian explained. Some of the landowners' other concerns included invasive species, water (too much or too little), and wildfires.

Next Steps

In Puerto Rico, Heriberto is completing follow-up visits with the participating landowners. mYo will also do a qualitative analysis of the survey data. As mYo expands to Texas, New Mexico, and Florida, the results of this pilot project will play a key role in informing our work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4slmpEusnEA

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