Over the last 5 years, one of our major projects, together with the Fundación Natura, has been the Ecological Restoration Plan for the Tropical Dry Forest (BST in Spanish) in the area of influence of the El Quimbo Hydroelectric, in El Huila region.
There, we carry out species domestication, a term used for the selection of a biological resource, starting from a wild species, for the adaptation of plants for cultivation for the purpose of satisfying human requirements; We also work on the propagation of native species for the process of dry forest restoration.
The good news is that the results, the successful and documented propagation of more than 335,000 plants, corresponding to 62 native species of BST, are compiled in the book "Domestication of native plants used in ecological restoration processes."
In summary, the Tropical Dry Forest Plants Book contains highly useful scientific information for restoration or production processes to overcome the barriers that lead to low survival rates in the propagation of native plants.
It explains how to manage these species information, the conditions required, times needed and methods that should be proposed for the species sets to germinate effectively.
It also presents the standardization of information to move from trials to a systematic process with large volumes, comprehensively manage nutrition, disease, growth and rustification issues, among others.
In further detail, the book is divided into five parts and twelve chapters. The first part deals with the component of domestication, nursery and propagation of native species in the ecological restoration processes.
The second addresses the ecological bases necessary for the domestication process and highlights the importance of ecological information on the ecosystem to be restored, which helps to define criteria for the selection of species to be domesticated and propagated.
The third part explains the genetic bases necessary for the domestication process and the fourth shows the silvicultural bases necessary in the domestication process, as well as the aspects that must be taken into account in the collection and postharvest handling activities of the germplasm of fruits and seeds.
Finally, the fifth section focuses on the main socio-economic and management aspects. In addition, the results of the species managed during the domestication process of native BST species are presented, which in this case is done through the preparation and presentation of preliminary technical sheets and charts.
The book’s value is that it seeks to disseminate knowledge about the domestication, propagation and use of a greater number of native species for ecological restoration processes, since in the case of the Tropical Dry Forest, survivals above 90% were recorded in most of the species planted after more than three years, when in other cases, it is below 50% in the first year.
It was also found that the survival difficulties in the restoration processes originate from the inadequate selection of species, as well as in the management and production of poor-quality seeds and seedlings of native species.
The work is aimed at those interested in the propagation of Tropical Dry Forest native plants; however, it is more focused on forestry professionals, technicians and students, biologists, ecologists, agronomists and agriculturalists.
Its clear and concise language explains in detail the results on the projects of domestication, nursery and propagation of native plants in the Tropical Dry Forest; It is a methodology that serves as a model for any ecosystem that requires the propagation of native species for ecological restoration processes.