REGENERATION & REWILDING
San Sebastian de la Selva was originally a farm dedicated to forestry and cattle ranching. These practices were the cause of the complete deforestation of 30% of its total area, which had a negative impact on the normal functioning of the ecosystem.
With the creation of the Private Reserve in 2009, the first step was taken towards the recovery of the environment by removing cattle ranching from the area. However, the regeneration of the Misiones rainforest, due to its complex biodiversity, requires many more projects in which we are actively working today.
Our projects
Plantations
Since 2013 we have been working on environmental regeneration through massive plantings of native species.
The progress in these years has been enormous. WE HAVE PLANTED MORE THAN 17,000 NATIVE TREES together with NGOs, companies and people committed to the conservation of one of the most biodiverse and threatened environments in our country... and we keep adding up. During 2019, in agreement with Fundación Vida Silvestre, we surveyed and delimited the entire deforested area of the Reserve in order to apply different methodologies to help its recovery, evaluating by sectors and plots the most effective and appropriate methods. This allowed us to organize the work, proposing stages of planting, maintenance and evaluation of progress.
Natives Nursery
The regeneration of an environment such as the Atlantic Forest implies arduous and constant work. To recover the patches of degraded areas implies an enormous work of reforestation with native species of this environment.
For this task, it is essential to have a quantity and variety of specimens of species native to the area, and the best way to generate a permanent supply is to carry out our own nursery.
In 2021 we began the expansion of the Native Nursery. A larger and better organized space, destined to reproduce specimens with seeds collected in the Reserve, which allows us to sow and replicate in greater numbers for subsequent planting in the recovered areas.
Carbon Neutrality
Every day, in our daily actions, we emit greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The measure of these emissions is what we call CARBON FOOTPRINT.
We work with companies and individuals interested in offsetting their carbon footprint through carbon neutrality programs based on the regeneration of the Atlantic Forest. Unlike other CO2 offset programs, in Bayka we reforest exclusively with native trees. In this way we are not only obtaining the benefits that any tree can provide, but also regenerating the ecosystem and returning the ideal conditions to the environment so that its biodiversity can return, recovering its connectivity.
Maintenance & Georeferencing
The maintenance of reforested areas is fundamental for the success of regeneration. It is necessary to continuously remove and control invasive exotic grasses, since they represent a great challenge for the growth of native tree seedlings during the first years.
Another important task is the georeferencing of the planted trees, used to evaluate the growth and evolution of the different species in the replanted area, which is also accompanied by photographs of some reference specimens that help to document it.
It is an arduous but vital work to measure the success of the plantations and the different methods used in each plot.
Pacas & Agoutis
In San Sebastian de la Selva we decided to start in 2020 with the Reintroduction Project of Pacas and Agoutis, as a way to accompany and strengthen the process of planting and regeneration of the forest. These two species play a fundamental role as seed dispersers of native plants, and are known for their restorative function of the environments for that reason.
Once the construction of the necessary facilities was completed, we received the first pairs that will be gradually reintroduced with the objective of restoring reproductive populations in their habitat, using modern monitoring technology to evaluate their behavior and adaptation.
In addition, we are working on the idea of reinforcing the proposal with environmental education activities.
