PUERTO RICO — A few years ago, 57-year-old agronomist Ángel Rivera Nazario envisioned his farm, Rancho AA, located in Sábana Grande, Puerto Rico, to be much more than the place where he raised cattle for food. He wanted his land to be full of trees which, in addition to creating a pleasant landscape, would benefit his cattle’s living conditions, protect the soil from erosion and serve as habitat for other species.

Rivera Nazario, who has been in the cattle industry for about 40 years, has seen that dream come true thanks to the Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Partnership program of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in collaboration with the Forest Service. The initiative allows these organizations to work with agricultural producers and forest landowners to invest in conservation and restoration at a big enough scale to make a difference.

"Our first interest was reforestation; we needed to plant trees on the farm. Then we saw that Joint Chiefs was much more. It has several programs that could help us in a positive way on the farm, not just with trees," said Rivera Nazario, whose farm was the first one to be admitted to the program about four years ago.

“After several years in the program, we were able to meet the objectives: we have shade for the cattle, trees to protect the soil from erosion and that improve the environment and temperatures in the places where the cattle graze and spend their time. We have also seen an increase in life, in fauna, mainly birds. We already have about 33 bird’s species counted on the farm. We have noticed the difference when we are walking around the farm, the nests in the trees, the large number of birds,” added Rivera Nazario, who also grows plantains, avocados, pumpkins and breadfruits (locally known as panapén or panas) on his land.

Under the program, fences were also installed at Rancho AA to protect the planted trees and some water bodies as well as to prevent some animals from accessing certain areas. In addition, a firebreak was built to prevent neighboring fires from spreading to their lands. Thanks to this measure, he has already been able to avoid two fires. Erosion has also been significantly controlled.

Like Rivera Nazario, about 150 farmers and/or forest landowners across the island have benefited from the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership.

“That's the beauty of it. It's two agencies working together for a common goal, which is an improvement of the natural conditions of an important landscape,” added Magaly Figueroa, program manager for State, Private, and Tribal Forestry.    

Isela Ortiz, administrator of the Southwest Soil and Water Conservation District, explained that the program seeks to promote land conservation and restoration to generate habitat connectivity and thus create ecological corridors, protect lands from wildfire threats and improve the health and resilience of the forest ecosystems. The initiative also aims to connect with public and private lands to provide long-term benefits to natural resources and production, connect with agricultural producers and forest landowners to invest in conservation, and restore wildlife habitat for at-risk species.

Ortiz indicated that while in Puerto Rico’s western zone “the program focuses on the landscape reforestation, in the eastern, the efforts are centered on the landowner’s resilience to maintain and restore it, particularly in El Yunque and its surrounding areas.”

In the eastern part of the island, the mission also includes rescuing Eugenia hematocarpa induals, a rare endangered endemic plant species. Their goal is to plant 150 individuals in three different parts of El Yunque to establish viable communities of this plant in the area. The first planting of 50 trees was achieved last June.

“People are more conscious about the environment, the climate change and the treatment of the animals. So, we are glad to help those farmers get to that point that they feel happy, to make their mark and to have a proper outcome because the more practices you implement in your farm, in production is going to go up because everything is it's a system,” said Linnette Rosado Betancourt, NRCS district conservationist.

Under the Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Partnership, participating farmers and landowners can benefit in a variety if ways such as technical assistance, forest management plan, forest fire prevention workshops, monitoring protocol activities with volunteers, financial assistance for implementing conservation practices, tree propagation for selected native species, and community outreach and education.

More photos from the Joint Chief's Partnership Restoration program visit to Puerto Rico are available in our Flickr album.