Para La Naturaleza held its fourth day of free tree distribution on Saturday as part of its La Siembra initiative, after a season of increased wildfires and extreme drought across wide regions of Puerto Rico. From Wednesday to Friday, the organization had already handed out the initial 21,000 trees at six sites, with a limit of four per person.
Erick Carrero Berríos, reforestation coordinator at the group’s nursery at the Northern Botanical Garden in Río Piedras, said the goal is to plant 50,000 trees over the whole month. The current phase is for individuals; next week comes the phase for collaborators, then employees, leading to a national planting on October 24, after which the group will know whether it surpassed the goal.
At the Río Piedras site, more than 5,000 trees had been given out by 11:00 AM. Reforestation officer Hannied Díaz Georke said the favorites, aguacero (Brunfelsia densifolia) and retama san José (Poitea florida), ran out before the last shift ended. She said people are motivated but have limited space, and the group wants to restore the culture of planting, even in a pot or planter.
The group has held mass giveaways since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic; this year it used stations instead of drive-through to allow more guidance on tree care. Sites included Hacienda La Esperanza (Manatí), Las Cabezas de San Juan (Fajardo), La Guancha (Ponce), Estadio Centroamericano (Mayagüez) and the Barranquitas nursery. Through July, the Firefighters Bureau had handled 1,113 wildfires, versus 1,024 at the same point last year.
Carrero Berríos said reforestation can lower temperatures by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit and feeds aquifers. Pilar Bernard Sánchez, 78, of University Gardens, took two María trees.