“Eucalyptus was chosen for cultivation because it has been proven as the best alternative. Due to Paraguays subtropical climate eucalyptus trees are growing four times faster than in Europe. The wood of eucalyptus trees can easily keep up with exotic precious woods in quality, appearance and weather resistance. Its wood is traded worldwide and has proven to be a cheaper alternative with the same properties as other tropical wood. Furthermore, the tall-growing tree acts like a natural protection for native trees; it protects them from strong winds and other conditions.
In general, eucalyptus trees help preventing deforestation in Latin America, because plantations cover the demand of wood, e.g. wood for energy production as well as paper industry. There are no natural coal in South America, and the import of the huge quantities of crude oil and natural gas is very expensive. Although there are several hydroelectric power plants for general power supply, the demand cannot be met. Therefore 60 % of energy is generated by firewood. It was calculated, that about 60,000 hectares of land will have to be reforested to meet this demand.
However, not only the eucalyptus seedlings are planted, but also native trees that are otherwise being destroyed by deforestation.
Eucalyptus trees can grow 5-7 meters in one year. This means of course, they need a lot of water to make this kind of growth possible. Therefore such a tree belongs in water-rich countries. If there is an irregular amount of available water – e.g. in dry periods, the tree pulls water from the ground of neighbouring areas and its plants experience water shortage. In Paraguay there is so much water that it washes out the soil. Areas where this happens turns into fallow land and remain this way. The planting of eucalyptus in these areas can help to revitalize the ecosystem.
TreeCoin helps making a restoration of the ecosystem possible. 30% of the first investment in 1 hectare land is the price for our biological fertilizer. With sufficient nutrients eucalyptus trees can also grow on fallow land, because there is a lot of water available as well. After 8 years there is already a layer of humus from fallen eucalyptus leaves and branches.
Interestingly enough, the oldest known eucalyptus fossils were actually found in South America, although most of the over 800 eucalyptus species originate from Australia and Southeast Asia. Since there is a large variety of eucalyptus and hybrids of it, TreeCoin works with its own hybrid to ensure the trees growing in Paraguay are harming the environment, but rather strengthen it. Also the experience of our neighbours in Brazil planting eucalyptus has shown eucalyptus forests growing in unison with native flora and fauna. The mosaic planting of trees offers animals the right environment for living and reproduction.
Although absolutely true for some eucalyptus varieties, this family of trees has over 800 different types. The ones growing in Paraguay are used for wood, not for essential oils, because they do not contain enough oil or no oil at all. Therefore fire or spoiled water is highly unlikely.
