In Panama, an Indigenous-led project rewrites the rules of reforestation

In Panama, an Indigenous-led project rewrites the rules of reforestation

ÑÜRÜM, Panama — Isidrio Hernandez-Ruiz has a soft spot for the bright yellow flowers of the guayacan trumpet tree (Tabebuia guayacan), a native species that blooms across Panama each spring. It’s one of many reasons why Hernandez-Ruiz, a rural farmer known locally as a campesino, chose to participate in a reforestation effort to plant native trees across his land that will soon earn him income — without harvesting them. Between the nonnative pin…