Ecuador has the highest deforestation rate worldwide. Over 75 per cent forests have been lost so far and at current pace, dry forests and tropical mountain and primeval forests will have almost disappeared in about 20 years.
 
Timber industry is not the only reason. There are also farmers who need pastures for their cows. The steep slopes at the edge of the Podocarpus national park are an example of the impacts of stock-breeding on the overall natural scenery.

The vicious circle of deforestation
 
The stockbreeders have been lumbering the forests around their farms, clearing the area and finally growing juicy grass.
First a productive pasture area emerged. Later the bracken, a dominant fern species replaced the grass. Cows do not eat fern. At the beginning of this stage the farmers can uproot the pest from the meadow with a machete.
However, after several years only one option remains: clearing the area anew in order to continue the stockbreeding. After the second clearing, the fern becomes much faster dominant. At the end of this vicious circle a fern cover remains on the poor soil that is of no agricultural use.
Eventually, the stockbreeders have to open new pastures for their cows.

Forestation with established trees damages the eco-system
 
Naturally, these areas are partly forested again. Pines and eucalyptus trees dominate the local scenery.
Fast-growing and useful for the timber industry, the established tree species represent a danger for the eco-system. Green deserts is the expression experts use for the newly forested areas.
The eucalyptus, which has been imported from Australia, needs immense water amounts, drying thus the soil out. Only few plants are able to survive next to the eucalyptus trees.
Particularly the animal world is not adapted to these tree species. The flora and fauna, once devastated by deforestation, will not come back. In the long run, this development is going to lead to a dramatic depletion of the species richness.

Pilot study with domestic trees
 
The NCI organization has co-operated with the university in Loja in an environmentally meaningful forestation project. Students plant the scions of diverse domestic tree species in a tree nursery under the leadership of the German forester Sven Günther.
 
"Forestation is not easy," explains the expert forester, "you need the so-called pioneer plants. They are to bind the nitrogen from the exhausted soil, thus improving its quality. On the other hand, they must grow fast in order to supply shadow and enable other species to settle here."
What is especially important in his opinion is the economic value of the trees. Only if the farmers see they can make a medium-term profit with the trees, a new deforestation can be prevented.
 
Cedrela, the Andes alder, is one of these pioneer plants and has been planted in the tree nursery.
In addition to the scions of the Andes alder, juclans, the South American walnut and the dangerous cascarilla, which used to supply quinine for the prevention of malaria, have been planted in the pilot project.

Breeding of conifers is not easy
 
The only conifers of Ecuador, the Podocarpus genera are much more difficult to integrate in the forestation.
Hardwood is extraordinary popular in the timber industry and therefore it has become rare even in the protected areas like the Podocarpus national park.
In order to find seeds of the rare tree, tedious search in the tropical mountain forests is indispensable. Even if seeds are available, this does not mean that they can be successfully planted. The seeds of the Podocarpus genera shoot forth scarcely.
Numerous experiments in the tree nursery deal with the environmental factors relevant for the germination of this endangered tree species.
 
Breeding of scions, i.e. layers of the trees, is no long-term solution because the scions have identical genetic information. Large-scale forestations with scions would necessarily lead to a depletion of the genetic richness.

Pilot study under strict regulations
 
These days, German students have started dividing a total of twelve hectares of the mountaineous pastures into fields of 100 square metres each. The planting of scions started according to a strict research design in the spring 2003.
"Dependent on the soil, the utilization stage, the vegetation and hillside situation the scions will grow with differing success. In this pilot study we want to find out how future forestation projects can be optimally planned and implemented," says Sven Günter about the large-scale project.

The farmers have provided pastures of various utilization stages for the project. Their financial losses through less stockbreeding will be compensated according to the current market prices.
In addition to that, they have to undertake not to clear the forest again. After several years of forestation they are allowed to remove only useful trees according to the aspects of sustainable timber industry.

Rocky way towards timber industry
 
Sustainable timber industry could be a well-tried help against the continuing deforestation of the mountain forests. Are the farmers to reduce the clearing of forests, they need an alternative source of income.
The long changeover time might be a drawback. 20 years pass on the average from the forestation up to the utilization of the forest. A whole generation would have to abandon stockbreeding.
The biologist Felix Matt considers the lifestyle of people the major problem. "Nobody here is insured. If they become ill frequently they have to sell their houses. People here do not think in the long term. How can we expect support for such long-term projects?"
 
To convert the economic basis of life of the farmers to timber industry requires a transition solution. Bi-cultural utilization could be the keyword.
Pasture farming on a smaller scale between the forestation and farming of fruits could eliminate financial shortage.
Empirical data are not available. Further studies have to show how the protection of the mountain forests can be reconciled with the economic interests of the small farmers also in the short-term.