BUT DO NOT DESTROY IT.......

Reforestation: If you are interested in owning a piece of tropical real estate, Panama is the ideal country. Stable economy, real estate laws allowing for foreign ownership....and gorgeous landscapes. Several pieces of real estate are being marketed as "suitable for reforestation". Although conceptually we support 100% reforestation projects, some reforestation projects are just plain bad.

For example, several acres of perfectly good tropical forest land are being CLEARCUTTED, to replant teak. Ecologically speaking, clear-cutting is bad, and replacing what was once a mixed-wood tropical forest with a monoculture of teak in doubly bad. It is one thing to take landscapes that have been altered by grazing, and replanting native trees, it is another to turn rain forests into teak plantation. Economically speaking, be aware that teak planted in the Bocas del Toro region WILL grow fast, HOWEVER, because of their rapid growth, the trees are of substandard quality, and will have very little value commercially. Mixed-tree tropical forests being clear-cutted lead to erosion, to the loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitat. When this clear cutting is made in favor of a crop which will have very little value, we are adding insult to injury. All around, it is a bad investment.

If you are considering a reforestation project, please ask questions in regards to what will be planted... How the project is managed, and if possible, ask the advice of reputable foresters. Some areas are turning into gigantic teak farms, which is a real shame.

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