It all started a year ago when Erik Ruiz, William “Willie” Burgos, and Ahmed Pérez, all from the Reforestation team of Para la Naturaleza, began planting mangroves in plastic bins, improvising a laboratory and experimenting with salinity to observe the results. In these bins, they planted red mangrove propagules—one with freshwater and another without water—to see how they behaved under different salinity conditions. “We discovered that in freshwater, the seedling developed better,” said Erik, Reforestation Coordinator of Para la Naturaleza’s Eastern Region.
Following the results from this improvised laboratory at Cabezas de San Juan, Willie, Ahmed, and Erik, began designing a self-sufficient nursery for aquatic plants with the aim of growing red, black, and white mangroves efficiently to reforest designated segments of the Medio Mundo and Daguao Natural Protected Area in Ceiba, with a mission to expand production to other natural areas of the organization and sell mangroves to the general public.
The design project for this new mangrove nursery took approximately a year and is still in the final stages. At the Nature Reserve Hacienda La Esperanza, the tanks and benches were built and then transported to Fajardo,” notes Willie, who is also a biologist and beekeeper of Para la Naturaleza. The self-sustaining aquatic plant nursery features six benches, each with eight legs. Each bench can support up to 360 seedlings, allowing for controlled water flow to manage salinity. It also has a perforated polycarbonate roof to control light and capture rainwater. The propagules initially grow in freshwater, with salinity gradually increased as the plants progress. Additionally, it has a solar panel system, two tanks—one for saltwater and one for freshwater—and a compressor to oxygenate the water, mimicking a natural mangrove system.
As a result of the experiment, it was observed that within two weeks, the propagules flourished, and in two to three months, the little trees could be planted. The planting goal for this nursery-laboratory is three thousand mangrove trees per year, primarily red mangrove. This space will help speed up production and will produce mangrove trees year-round, all aimed at continuing to contribute to the reforestation and habitat restoration of the archipelago.