Wildlife

making your car carbon neutral

Reforestation helps endangered wildlife that
relies on trees for habitat

Many animals living in the Orinoco River
basin are endangered.

Many species of fish will benefit from reforestation

Piranha

Dolphin

Part of our mission is to create new
habitat for local wildlife.

Armadillo

Fox

It is well known that deforestation contributes to global warming. Fewer tropical trees means less carbon dioxide ("CO2") removed from the atmosphere. CO2 sequestered in soil that was once rainforest is released into the atmosphere when the trees are gone. Often overlooked is the wildlife that relies on those trees for habitat. Many species are now endangered due to deforestation. A big part of the mission Planeta Verde Reforestación S.A. has set itself is to create new habitat for endangered wildlife in the areas in which its tropical trees are planted.

We are opposed to mono-culture or mono-species tree plantations. Anyone who has ever visited a teak plantation in Latin America will notice that they are devoid of wildlife, insects or birds. This is because most local wildlife occupies specialized niches in local ecologies. Teak, which comes from Southeast Asia, provides nothing to support wildlife indigenous to Central and South America. The solution is to take a multi-culture or multi- species approach to afforestation and reforestation projects.

Despite the fact that we plant numerous fast growing tropical tree species, we also make a special effort to plant indigenous trees and
fruit trees known to support local wildlife, birds and insects. Mangos,
wild tamarinds, avocadoes (aguacate), cashews (marañon), guavas, to name but a few fruit trees, all allow local wildlife to support itself in reforested areas.

Many of the animals that live in the Orinoco River basin are endangered from loss of habitat and human expansion. They include deer (venados), tapirs (dantas), lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca),
sloths (perezosos), wild boars (cafuches), pecarries (zainos), jaguars, ocelots, long tailed monkeys (micos), armadillos, foxes (zorros), pink dolphins (delfines rosados), manatees, yellow caimans, and
capybaras (chingüiros), to name but a few.

One interesting animal in the Orinoco River basin is the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), endangered due to the value of its fur. The males can be 6 feet in length. It is called the lobo del rio or river wolf, because it feeds on catfish, perch, piranha (piraña), crabs and small caimans and anacondas. Another is the fresh water pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). It eats small fish, crustaceans and zoo plankton.

The Orinoco River basin is a bird watchers paradise. Species include toucans (tucánes), loros or parrots, guacamayas or macaws, humming birds (colibríes), curassows (paujiles), moor hens (gallinetas) and the vultures of the llanos. The bottom line is that when you fund the tree planting of tropical trees to make your vehicle carbon neutral, you are also helping endangered wildlife, birds and marine creatures to survive. Need we say more?