A group of the El Triunfo volunteers. Photo by David Reyes.
In late September, and thanks to funding from One Tree Planted, the staff at Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes, in Área de Conservación Guanacaste, held a volunteer tree planting event in the community of El Triunfo. It was the first such event held by Horizontes staff outside of the ACG protected area. Horizontes manager, David Reyes, said that even though his staff has experience managing groups of bigger sizes, they all had “butterflies in their stomachs” because this event was a one-of-a-kind volunteering experience. Prior to the event, Horizontes staff worked with two El Triunfo community leaders to ensure that their activities would be tailored to the community’s interests and needs. The leaders wanted trees to be planted in some of the common areas, such as churches, around a local soccer field, and at a post-processing plant of the Women’s Association of Vegetable Producers of El Triunfo. Over the course of the event, 24 volunteers helped plant more than 60 trees! All the volunteers received t-shirts, snacks, and drinks. The event was a great success, according to Reyes, and we are thankful to One Tree Planted for their support of such efforts.
Una voluntaria carrying seedlings. Photo by David Reyes.
The El Triunfo volunteers. Photo by David Reyes.