The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), through the General Directorate of Forest Planning, Basins and Irrigation, accompanied by the Salvadoran Institute for Agrarian Transformation (ISTA) and the Social Fabric Directorate, began planting bamboo in the Comalapa River bank, in San Luis Talpa, department of La Paz.
This initiative, which is part of the National Bamboo Program, aims to reforest the water’s edge zone, which presents deterioration and is a latent risk for nearby communities, according to MAG’s Head, Oscar Guardado.
“We are going to reforest the upper and lower parts of the Comalapa River because it has been deteriorating. This is important because we are going to carry it out nationwide. We have already restored 10 kilometers of the Lempa River in the upper part of San Vicente with other companies,” he said.
The program plans to cultivate 1,000 hectares of giant green bamboo and reach one million canes in six years to start making wood based on this plant, explained the coordinator of this strategy, Humberto Hernández.
“We want to generate economic resources because, in addition to being conservation and risk mitigation works on the margins of our rivers, we will protect the banks with bamboo,” the coordinator pointed out.
He also indicated that these actions are being carried out with the involvement of the community. In the case of the plants planted in the surroundings of the Comalapa River, young people benefiting from the local CUBO and communities will be trained in the care, management, and preservation of bamboo. Practical schools will also be held to give permanent use and take advantage of the wood from this species.
Regarding this, the Director of Social Fabric, Carlos Marroquin, said that they will work with young people and the community to commit their communities to accompany these actions that also benefit the environment.