There are several types of tropical trees that do well in the soil and weather conditions of the llanos orientales or eastern plains of Colombia, a tropical savanna. One of our preferred plantation trees is the Acacia mangium, which you can read about in this PDF format e-book. It produces a beautiful, commercially popular hardwood lumber in under 10 years, but most importantly is one of the world's best nitrogen-fixing trees or NFT. Acacia mangium is sometimes marketed as white teak because of the wood's many fine qualities. White teak or Acacia mangium is a great carbon sequestration tree.
We also plant Eucalpytus pellita, which is marketed around the world as red mahogany thanks to its beautiful red wood. You can find a more detailed description in this PDF formatted e-book. A related hybrid we have planted is Eucalyptus introgresión, where soil conditions require, but our first choice is always Eucalytus pelita. Tropical trees like red mahogany can be used for fine furniture, oils, in the pulp and paper industry and as a great carbon sequestration tree. For conifers we have Caribbean Pine or Pinus caribaea, which does fine in tropical savanna. Caribbean Pine or Pinus caribaea grows quickly and aggressively in hot climates.
Our native trees program is focusing on 4 Orinoco River basin tropical trees that can be found in the riparian forest or the adjacent gallery forest. The first is Congriio or Acosmium nitens, a super dense hardwood lumber ideal for heavy construction. The second is Saladillo Rojo or Caraipa llanorum, the beautiful red wood of which has found markets in Europe. The third is the Sassafras tree or Ocotea cymbarum, whose aromatic yellowish wood was popular with European royalty in the past, and a source of safrole and camphor oils. We are also big fans of Saladillo Blanco or Vochysia obscura, whose straight trunks and fine wood produce great hardwood lumber. We have also planted Saman or Samanea saman and the shamanic Yopo or Anadenanthera peregrina. Planting native trees expands endangered wildlife habitat.
Native Trees from Left to Right:
Caraipa llanorum (Saladillo rojo), Acosmium nitens (Congrio) and Vochysia obscura (Saladillo blanco)
