Ectomycorrhizal Reforestation Project

About the Project

 

“Ectomycorrhizal Reforestation Project” focuses on supporting reforestation for climate change mitigation. Since the situation of climate change is getting worse every second, how can we support each other? to increase forest successfully and make the forest grow and expand as quickly as possible. Therefore, our project concept will

 

1.   Encourage everyone to grow diversified species of native plants; since native plant species can grow well in their own forest habitat and match with the climate, topography and ecosystem. So native plants will have a better chance of survival and mature faster which can help us to reduce the time used for reforestation.

2.  Introduce edible ectomycorrhizal fungi inoculation in some families of native plants;  e.g. Dipterocarpaceae which is a host species of ectomycorrhizae. Because this fungal group enhances plant health and tolerance to highly challenging and vulnerable environment in the present time, the plant therefore can grow successfully.

 

Moreover, another benefit of inoculating edible ectomycorrhizal fungi in native plant seedlings for reforestation is, after approximately 3 years once a host seedling has become a healthy sapling or tree, there is a chance that wild mushroom fruit bodies will bloom in the planting area if the weather is perfect in terms of humidity and sunlight. Examples of wild mushrooms are Astraeus odoratus, Amanita hemibapha, Russula emetica. We can collect those wild mushrooms for household consumption, or sharing, or selling if there are too many of them. But we must not collect all. To conserve a sustainable consumption and wild mushrooms in our planting area, we have to leave some of them to propagate for our children and grandchildren. As a reminder, wild mushrooms will only stay if they have their hosts, so it is important that all of us must not destroy our food source by destroying the host trees or burning the land which will kill beneficial fungi like mycorrhizae and other microorganisms. If we protect and take care of our forest well, we will gain a lot from our forest, e.g. food, income, security. With abundant benefits of “ectomycorrhizal reforestation”, we hope that it will draw more attention from everyone to grow more forest and would take care of the forest until there is no more time for us on earth.

 

{ Core of the Project }

 

“Effective and sustainable forest restoration and management to mitigate climate change

 

Our project activities include

  • Designing effective reforestation plan, concerning climate challenges, ecological factors and risks for planting and maintenance of seedlings, e.g. natural disasters, pests, animal and human disturbance
  • Engaging local communities and stakeholders throughout the project, i.e. problems identification and solving, reforestation planning and operation, monitoring and maintenance, and project evaluation
  • Participating with local communities to restore forest with diversified ecologically native plant species and canopy layers
  • Enhancing both plant and soil fertility by
    • inoculating mycorrhizal fungi in host plants
    • using natural methods to increase soil microorganisms, e.g. using forest soil, mulching, growing cover crops
    • do not use chemical fertilizers and any chemical substances
    • reducing severe topsoil and soil structure interruption which is a habitat of beneficial microorganisms
  • Organizing educational workshops for local communities and stakeholders to increase essential knowledge and skills for sustainable forest restoration and management within the community
  • Campaigning other environmental activities, e.g. supporting local natural materials, reusing local trash or residue

For more information, please contact here 💚