It is relatively easy to plant trees: find a place, dig a hole, put the tree in without cutting the roots, cover the hole, pour some water on it, let the tree grow. Yet, it is not easy at all to keep a tree planting or reforestation project alive over the years. Not only does the farming or forestry design be well planned but also, and much more, the project monitoring and the social design behind it. That is key to guarantee the project medium-term duration and resilience.

Especially when your project links two continents, a lot of time and effort must be put into communication and coordination. For instance, planning the tree inspections and deliveries to the planting sites, organizing the training courses, making sure all the trees are correctly labelled, the tree guardians are photographed and the database is thoroughly updated, maintaining a regular communication with the community representatives. All this requires time and work diligence.

“Work” is per se an extremely powerful term and it can be seen in very different and respectful ways. For us, the Agrecol Tree Project is non-profitable work mainly based on volunteering and donors. Our sales’ income is used to buy new trees and cover some travel expenses, but all of the desktop and on-site activities are based on the love for agroecology of Econtrovertia APS volunteers. And yet, we cannot let the project run only through spontaneous volunteering work. Without thoroughly planned and implemented volunteering work the project would have been doomed long ago. Looking back at our 2024 delivery activities and new collaborations, we look forward to the new challenges and achievements awaiting us.

Except for the farming community of Sacaba-Corralones, where we donated 31 fruit seedlings directly to the community members, this year we focused on the social and educational communities involved in the project. Nine saplings found a home in the schoolyard of Taquiña A, twenty in the Caramarca retirement home, fifteen in the “Maria Cristina” center for young people with disabilities, and fifteen in the women support center “Centro Esperanza”, in Quillacollo. By adding these 90 new saplings to those planted in past years, we have now reached 330 overall planted trees.

By organizing group activities for planting and labeling the saplings, and training courses to ecologically manage the orchard, the Agrecol Trees Project draws strength from its social capital to help local communities and encourage local authorities to promote agroforestry initiatives.

Fig. 1: The tree planting group activity at the “Taquiña A” secondary school (Cochabamba – Taquiña district). Photo taken by author.

After a renewed agreement with the school principal, in mid-April we organized a day of group tree planting and farming at the Taquiña A secondary school. Around 35 students learnt how to prune and treat ecologically the 26 existing fruit trees and planted  9 new seedlings. New apples, lemons and peaches, as well as pacay and quince trees, will form a wonderful and diverse fruit orchard within the schoolyard.

Fig. 2: The tree planting group activity at the “Maria Cristina” educational  center (Cochabamba – Villa Bush). Photo taken by author.

Some of them planted them for themselves, others for their secret crushes. Some jealously tagged their fruit tree to secure their future harvests and sales within the center. Thanks to the hard work of manually mowing the grass, preparing the holes, planting the seedlings, watering them, adding organic fertilizer, covering the holes, pruning and labeling them, 15 new lemons, apples, pomegranates, peaches, and quince and pacay trees were added to the 17 of last year. That is a beautiful, diverse and growing fruit orchard of 32 trees within the perimeter of the center

Fig. 3: The invaluable help from gate keeper Don Carlos and  home guest Don Elmo (Cochabamba – Caramarca) during the tree planting day. Photo taken by author.

Having lost all of their close relatives, the Caramarca retirement home staff virtually becomes the new family of the elderly guests. Psychotherapists, cleaning ladies, nurses, gate keepers, administrators and guests form together a beautiful and caring community.

The frosts of last year’s (Bolivian) winter halted the growth of the cherimoyas and lemon trees, so we decided to plant more cold-resistant fruit trees this year. After a long pruning and green maintenance session, last April we therefore added 20 new apples, peaches, pomegranates, and quince and pacay trees all along the home’s perimeter wall

Thanks to a successful collaboration with Cochabamba’s Department of Social Affairs, a stronger communication with our point of contact and excellent teamwork with the home’s staff, a total of 47 lovely fruit trees are now growing healthy in the home’s garden. We can’t wait to try the first fruits of this rising orchard!

Fig. 4: Community representative, director Don Edgard (right), and three happy members of the Sacaba-Corralones farming community receive their new fruit trees (Cochabamba, Sacaba-Corralones). Photo taken by author.

After a first plant health checkup in 2023, we delivered 31 new tree saplings to members of the farming community of Sacaba-Corralones, a fast-growing satellite city of Cochabamba. Lemon trees, apples, quince and pacay trees will become new green spots in an area subject of major urban expansion.

Fig. 5: Intense farming work by all the staff of “Centro Esperanza (Cochabamba, Quillacollo). Photo taken by author.

The women support center “Centro Esperanza” of Quillacollo is a recovery and protection center for victims of violence and abuse. After a first contact with representatives from Cochabamba’s Department of Social Affairs, we inspected the site and delightfully signed a collaboration agreement. In the eyes of the center’s leaders, taking care of the trees will help the guests win back their self-esteem. We are moved to see that our love for agroecology and the natural environment can also have provide relief and psychological benefits to others.

On a bright sunny Saturday at the end of April, a dynamic group of doctors, psychotherapists, nurses, sociologists and assistants rolled their sleeves up to mow and hoe the soil of an unused cattle ranch. Fifteen holes were dug and fifteen beautiful fruit trees – apples, lemons, pomegranates and quinces – were planted. After a joyful and productive morning in the garden, the  homemade lunch and fresh fruit juice at the end were just the cherry on top.

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Cover and preview image: The staff of the “Centro Esperanza” women support center of Quillacollo at the end of the tree planting day. Photo by author.