Daniel Renison
Restoration of Polylepis Mountain Woodlands in the Sierras Grandes of Cordoba, Argentina The restoration of Polylepis australis mountain woodlands in the Sierras Grandes of Córdoba (Argentina) is important because the distribution of this species has been greatly reduced, and its woodlands hold many endemic species. Additionally, most of the rivers of the region are born in these mountains, and Polylepis woodlands protect soils from erosion. In 1997 Daniel Renison started a Conservation and Reforestation project, which has involved over 2,000 volunteers (including children from 5 schools) in planting almost 6,000 trees. He is now aiming to:
(1) finish the reforestation of a 30 ha valley;
(2) set up three new reforestation experiments;
(3) do a two day flora and fauna workshop in 6 rural schools.
Contact the team at drenison@com.uncor.edu
Project Update: November 2002 November through February are the best months for planting Polylepis seedlings in the Sierras Grandes mountains of Argentina. So things are getting busy for our weekend volunteers. During the first two weekends of November we had 30 volunteers, schoolchildren, their parents and their teachers from two schools of nearby Cordoba City. We planted 300 seedlings in the most degraded areas of our fenced in valley in Los Gigantes which we are restoring, and braved a fierce summer storm with lots of wind and temperatures nearing 0 degrees.
Restoring mountain woodlands is lots of work and we welcome help from anyone who is able to walk up to Los Gigantes mountain (2-3 hour walk) carrying seedlings in their backpacks. For those of you who live too far away from the Sierras Grandes to volunteer on week ends, you might want to consider volunteering from January 25 to February 1, 2003. We offer free lodging in a mountain refuge, lovely views and lots of work to be done! More information can be requested from Daniel Renison drenison@com.uncor.edu or else please visit www.welcome.to/reforestacion (in Spanish only).
Project Update: June 2003 Last summer with help of around 60 volunteers and the Rufford Small Grant we planted 1,500 seedlings in our enclosures at Los Gigantes. Some of the first trees we planted 5 years ago are 1.5 meters tall and produced their first seeds, so for the first time during our project, we were able to collect seeds from our own trees!
We also travelled to 8 different areas to collect seeds for this years seedling production including a trip to "El Hueco" which is the only large (almost 5 hectares) remaining Polylepis australis old growth forest that we know of. Thanks to the funds from the RSG, the students Eugenia Menoyo and Carla Coutsiers are doing their graduation research project studying whether Polylepis trees are associated to mycorrhiza and studying the influence of cattle and competing plants on Polylepis germination and establishment. Professor Luis Volkmann is preparing an Educational kit with booklets, slides, manuals and educational games related to the Sierras Grandes conservation as part of the preparation for the two day workshops at the rural schools in the area. For those travelling or planning to visit the Cordoba mountains in Argentina and that wish to participate in our volunteer groups, we need help on the following dates: Saturday and Sunday 19 and 20 of July, measuring seedlings and fixing trails; Saturday and Sunday 2 and 3 of August: measuring seedlings and fence construction; 13 and 14 of September: revegetation of erosion edges, seed planting experiments and fence construction; 18 and 19 of October: revegetation of erosion edges, putting sign posts up; 22 and 23 of November: Planting of Polylepis seedlings. January 3 to 11 2004: planting seedlings and seed collection.
During 2002 we published three papers on Polylepis ecology or reforestation methods (1 in English and 2 in Spanish). The RSG funded the publishing costs of two of them. They may be requested to drenison@com.uncor.edu and the titles are: - Renison, D., A. Cingolani y D. Schinner. 2002. Optimising restoration of Polylepis australis forests through reforestation: When, where and how to transplant seedlings to the mountains? Ecotropica 8: 219-224.- Renison, D. y A. M. Cingolani. 2002. Optimización del crecimiento del tabaquillo (Polylepis australis, Rosaceae): selección de las mejores Plantas semilleras. AgriScientia. 19: 63-66. - Renison, D., A. M. Cingolani y R. Suarez. 2002. Efectos del fuego sobre un bosquecillo de Polylepis australis (Rosaceae) en las montañas de
Project Update: September 2003 The austral winter is long in the Sierras Grandes of Córdoba where we are trying to restore Polylepis forests. This was a good time to measure growth rates of our 3000 experimental seedlings and fix fences. The first fences we built are 6 years old and the sheep which got in this winter made us realize many erosion gullies have got deeper under the fences, so with help of volunteers (mostly local but also of USA and Germany!) we are filling them up with stones or fixing them up in other ways. Thanks to the funds from the Rufford Small Grant we were able to pay all our expenses (travel, food, wire for fencing, tools). During the winter holidays, we also wrote two new booklets and a manual for teachers of rural schools in the area.
For those traveling or planning to visit the Cordoba mountains in Argentina and that wish to participate in our volunteer groups, we need help on the following dates: 18 and 19 of October: revegetation of erosion edges and fixing fences; 22 and 23 of November: Planting of Polylepis seedlings. January 3 to 11 2004: planting seedlings and seed collection. Additionally, from December 18 to 21 we organize a course of Flora, Fauna and Conservation of mountains (in Spanish). All classes are in the spectacular settings of our restoration area.
Project Update: November 2004 2004 was a great year for our project. Thanks to the RSG we organized 6 two day flora and fauna workshop with the children and professors of rural schools of the Córdoba Mountains and in the future will start reforestation projects with 3 of the schools. We set up several new reforestation experiments with help of biology students and are finishing the reforestation and restoration of a 30 hectare model area. Luis Volkmann, a volunteer of our project is now organising more workshops and researches in the lower Córdoba Mountains with his own RSG. Paula Márcora and Julieta Alinari, both biology students and volunteers of our project are starting a new Polylepis restoration project near Cerro Champaquí in the same mountain range.
Project Update: October 2005 Thanks to the RSG and the help of many volunteers, during the last three years we finished the reforestation of a valley of 30 hectares in the highest and most inaccessible mountains of Córdoba where we planted around 6000 Polylepis seedlings, re-vegetated many erosion gullies, fixed trails, put up 6 signposts with nature conservation messages and maintained fences to keep free ranging livestock out of our restoration area.
Little by little and with a lot of work we have transformed this beautiful but very degraded valley into an example of what can be done to restore these little known mountains from where over 2 million people depend upon for drinking water. In an effort to promote other people to start similar conservation projects we prepared a two day workshop which we gave in 6 rural schools of the area, providing environmental education materials, slide shows, walks and Polylepis seedlings to plant. RSG also provided funds for 3 research projects for biology students. The RSG really made a difference for many of us as it enabled us to do so many nice activities in conservation which we hope to continue doing for the rest of our lives. Many thanks, Daniel Renison and collaborators.
2nd RSG Grant Awarded To read about Daniel's 2nd RSG grant for this project http://www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/rsg/projects/daniel_renison
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