Thrity Vakil ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES OF EXTREME EVENTS Florida Conf 2023

Amazon Expedition 1980-1982
Our sustainable forestry project was set up by the Institute of
Ecotechnics after their ship, the RV Heraclitus, and crew went on an
expedition up the Amazon River. That ethnobotanical expedition was
initiated by Richard Evans Schultes. The crew experienced first hand the
devastating effects of illegal logging and deforestation. They started
looking for land to start a sustainable forestry operation as soon as they
arrived in Puerto Rico. The site was determined to be Patillas, SE PR.
The RV Heraclitus

Sub-tropical wet forest
Elevation 600m to 350 m range
TREE PLANTING
1984 - 1990: 40,000 trees planted on 230 acres.
2000 – present: 20,000 trees planted
(Mahogany, Mahoe, & Ausubo)
675 acres of the project land is left as a
wilderness for watershed protection.
Species include:
Mahogany Swietenia aubrevilleana, Mahoe
Hibsicus elatus,
Ausubo Manilkara bidentata,
Granadillo Buchenavia capitata,
Roble Blanco Tabebuia heterophylla,
Teak Tectona grandis.
Thanks to Frank H. Wadsworth, and Pete
Weaver for mentorship and &
collaborations with UPR, IITF, DRNA,
USDA and Earthwatch Institute

1999 – 2023 RESEARCH
Thinning techniques in
secondary forest
Hardwood Surveys
Herpetological Surveys
Seedling abundance
Vine Surveys
Fungi Surveys
Bird Surveys
Ethnobotany
Endangered endemic tree
planting and monitoring
Endangered endemic
species surveys and
propagation

Ongoing Propagation & Tree Planting

In 2012, we started noticing, and then discovered, that every year
in Puerto Rico hundreds of trees of valuable hardwood species are
cut down and discarded in landfills and dumps, or are abandoned
on roadsides.
We formed a new company,
Puerto Rico Hardwoods, &
started to collect, convert, &
transform that ‘waste’ into
lumber & items…

HURRICANE MARIA September 2017

2017 Hurricanes Irma & Maria
devastated the project homestead

Tree nursery after Hurricane Maria

Millions of trees fell in Hurricane Maria all over Puerto Rico --
the government response was to ‘crush and destroy’ it all.

Hurricane salvage
We instigated a major wood
salvage operation

A new industry borne out of disaster

At the forest project we continued work with with local & international
volunteers, clearing debris from the hurricane.

Maintenance of our Educational
Ethnobotanical Trail (since 2004)

2021 brought funding from
The Association
of Zoological Horticulture,
through
Naples Botanical Gardens, FLA
NEW NURSERY

CONSERVATION OF ENDEMIC TREES IN PUERTO RICO

Securing the conservation of endemic trees
in Puerto Rico
2021-2023 A collaborative project with
The Botanical Gardens Conservation International

Garcinia portoricensis
Ravenia urbanii

HURRICANE FIONA 17 th September 2022

Preliminary Rainfall Totals for Puerto Rico & the US Virgin Islands

Arrow indicates location of our project

MAIN ROAD PR 184 suffered many landslides

17 th September 2022, Hurricane Fiona,
followed by three extreme rain events in October and November

Our Forde/bridge torn
from the bank. The river
bed is now 5 times wider
than before Fiona.

LANDSLIDE MITIGATION, a new era of planting.
VETIVER Chrysopogon zizanioides

The rainforest defends itself by a beauty that makes us stop…
take oath to protect her.
www.eyeontherainforest.org
3t Vakil 3t@eyeontherainforest.org +1787 329 7761