Replant Native Trees in Peru
Bring the expanding deserts of western Peru, "the driest place on Earth," back to life. The Peruvian city of Ica was once surrounded by huarango, a tree that gave life to the famous Nazca society. This mesquite relative is as beautiful as it is useful. Huarango pods can be used as fodder for livestock, ground into flour for human consumption, sweetened into molasses, or even fermented into beer. The light yellow flowers are a haven for bees, and the tree itself helps capture seasonal floodwaters on their way from the Andes to the Pacific, supporting humans, animals, and plants. But the struggling people of Ica turned in desperation to the trees, cutting them down for charcoal to sell and use in the cities. Now, 98% of the great forest is gone. Without the life-giving properties of the trees, the cleared land is fast becoming uninhabitable desert. The soil has degraded for lack of nutrients that the trees once provided, and is unable to support most plant life. Without the...