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Asunción, Paraguay, IP Agency.- The nearly 11 hectares that had been depredated by third parties in the Puerto Indio area, Mbaracayú district (Alto Paraná), and recovered by Itaipu in May 2020, present a significant advance in its reforestation process, a task in charge of the Superintendency of Environmental Management of the Entity.
During a visit to the area, Binational technicians verified a significant evolution of forest cover in almost the entire area. In this way, there is a very good recovery prognosis, in the short term.
As reported, the rapid recovery of the degraded area is due to the existence of an interesting seed bank in the soil, since it is surrounded by native forests in a good state of conservation, which serve as a source of propagules (mechanisms used by plants to give rise to new copies).
Under these conditions, the place is quickly occupied by pioneer species that are characterized by their accelerated growth and rapid fruit production. They are short-lived specimens, but their main function is to prepare the conditions for long-lived plant species, thus guaranteeing the permanence of the forest over time.
Species from this group such as kurundi´y, amba´y, huí´i moneha, ysapy´y moroti and others are abundant in the intervention area. They accompany the more than 16,000 plants that were introduced at the time of the recovery of the place, among which are yerba mate, aratiku, guajaivi, cedar, yvyra pyta, lapacho, kurupa’y, among others native to the Atlantic Forest ecoregion. from Alto Paraná (Baapa).
“The first steps included the preparation and planting of pioneer species, to later introduce the natural species in this place. As you can see, today they are gaining height and soon we will have a fully covered wooded area again, ”explained engineer Carlos Santacruz, from Itaipu’s Environmental Action Division.
For his part, the engineer Francisco Somers, also from Acción Ambiental, pointed out that, in this first part, fertilization and control of ants and termites, among other types of pests, were also carried out. In a second stage, the replacement of damaged plants is expected, he said. “Our main objective is consolidation and we are on the right track,” he said.
It should be remembered that, in May 2020, Itaipu recovered these hectares of its property, which had been occupied in Puerto Indio. The achievement was possible through the joint procedure, led by police officers and prosecutors, reported the Binational.
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