As part of the program developed by the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) and the Road Conservation Fund (Fovial) called MOPFovial Verde, nearly 130,000 plants have been distributed and planted in different places this year.

The plants are cultivated and produced in the MOP-Fovial Verde nursery, which is located in the La Báscula campus, on the highway to Zacatecoluca, in an area of 7,000 square meters. This began operations in the last quarter of 2021.

According to official data from the MOP, $463,605.25 was invested for the construction of the facilities.

This figure was destined for the construction of a mesh house of 5,560 square meters, a micro-sprinkler system and 24 iron beds; in addition, for the drilling of a 100-meter-deep well that allows water to be subtracted, an electric pumping station, a 112-cubic-meter tank to store water, a covered warehouse and other supplies for the production, care and cultivation of the floors.

The nursery was created with the objective of “having an institutional social responsibility program through which society is contributed with compensation and environmental education, including all sectors of the population,” said the MOP. It should be noted that it works in coordination with the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) in the program Trees for El Salvador – A Lung for the Future.

The creation of this space included two phases: the first focused on the construction of the nursery and the second on the production of the plants; the delivery of different species to government institutions, municipalities, non-governmental organizations, Adesco, and educational centers; in turn, the planting and care of trees on roads and protected natural areas in coordination with the MARN; the delivery of plants to the population in general; and the rescue of public spaces through gardening and landscaping.

The variety of species that are cultivated and produced in the nursery is diverse, since there are forest, fruit, and ornamental plants and trees. Each one has a different destination. For example, forest plants are used for roads, projects, protected natural areas… and with fruit and ornamental trees, communities, mayors, and autonomous and non-autonomous public institutions are supported.

The nursery has the capacity to produce up to 500,000 plants in bags 5 centimeters wide by 12 high and 260,000 plants in bags 16 centimeters wide by 23 high.

“Currently there is an inventory of 103,000 plants available for delivery and another 25,000 in the process of germination and growth,” the MOP detailed.