Panama’s forests have suffered a great deal in past years, with data showing a national forest cover of 70% in 1947 which had dwindled to just 53% by 1970. An average of 41.321 hectares of forest were destroyed annually from 1992 to 2000 (Garver, RD, FAO). Despite this loss, Panama has 21 times more plant species per km2 than Brazil and the most species of vertebrates than any other country in Central America and the Caribbean.

In order to maintain this wonderful country’s natural resources and biodiversity, drastic action must be taken quickly and sustainable forestry practices must be introduced. Silva Tree’s Princess Project Panama aims to do just that. Not just a sustainable Paulownia plantation, the project also includes a social education program designed to introduce ethical forestry practices to the local people of Panama. Forestry practices have so far not been a popular economic activity, even though the country’s climate and terrain are ideally suited to this practice and, indeed, once used to support natural rainforest.

Governmental investments and incentives in the forestry sector have historically been abused, resulting in a scattering of poorly managed and even altogether abandoned timber plantations. The result is a country that is ideally suited to investment in the ethical timber sector, but that relies on private, and often foreign, investors for this.

It is surprising that so few private companies or large investors have seen the potential in Panama, but now Silva Tree have decided to capitalise on the lack of previous investment in the field.

Silva Tree are developing a 1500 hectare project, planting the tree species Paulownia Elongata in the Chépo area of Panama. The project is pioneering in several ways; from the tree species used to the ethical nature of its practices. The Princess Project will facilitate education programs which Silva Tree hope will encourage Panamanians to continue forestry practices and slow the country’s deforestation rate.

Ethical timber investments offer multiple benefits: The production of timber produces income for Panamanian citizens, the trees protect soils from erosion and degradation, roots maintain water tables and forests provide habitats and migration pathways for animals. Finally, forests, even commercial plantations if managed sustainably, sequester Carbon through photosynthesis, which helps to fight the causes of climate change.

The Silva Tree Princess Project Panama is one of the only ethical timber investments in the country, and future plans include a larger biomass production project, also based on ethically grown timber. The projects provide local employment and education in areas that desperately require them, and Silva Tree hope that their investment in the ethical timber sector will make a real difference to Panama and its people.