Students in their first year of the Agricultural High School program at the Instituto Nacional de Nueva Guadalupe (INNG) in San Miguel have taken on a significant environmental project this year. As part of the RECLIMA project, a joint initiative by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the nonprofit organization CLUSA, they are creating a nursery with 5,000 forest and fruit trees. This effort falls under Component 2 of the project, which focuses on restoring critical areas.

At INNG, tree reproduction is closely tied to the curriculum of the Agricultural High School program, particularly in the Plant Propagation module. “It involves filling bags, placing seeds, watering, and fertilizing. We aim to produce native forest species that will be planted in communities in western San Miguel,” explained teacher Raúl Rodas.

For 16-year-old Gisela Castillo, a first-year student in the program, preparing and caring for a nursery is a completely new experience. “They have explained to us that some of these little trees will be taken home by us, others will be given to communities and students who want them. This has a good purpose because they are the ones that give us oxygen,” she said.

The project, led by FAO and implemented by CLUSA, aims to produce between 90,000 and 100,000 plants, including forest and fruit trees, as well as coffee plants. These nurseries are established across various districts in San Miguel, including Ciudad Barrios, Sesori, Nuevo Edén de San Juan, Lolotique, Uluazapa, and Comacarán.

In addition to the school nursery at INNG, a community nursery has been set up in collaboration with the Las Lomitas water board in San Miguel. Two other nurseries have also been established in national institutes in Chapeltique and Nueva Guadalupe.

“The most important thing is that we are working alongside local stakeholders to develop a joint restoration plan,” stated Mariano Peñate, National Coordinator of the RECLIMA project for FAO El Salvador.