Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Saving the Walnut Tree

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

CARACAS, Nov 25 2006 (IPS) - Environmental authorities are carrying out a conservation plan for the Venezuelan walnut (Juglans venezuelensis), native to the mountains that separate the capital from the Caribbean sea, a habitat that is under threat from logging, urbanization, soil degradation and changes in rainfall patterns. “We have a recover program, with collected seeds that we are working with in two greenhouses to turn them into 3,000 seedlings, which we hope to plant in the area by mid-2007,” Miguel Rodríguez, vice-minister of environment, told Tierramérica.

The Venezuelan is one of the 21 walnut species worldwide, of which 17 are from the Americas. It can grow to 30 meters tall, with a trunk circumference of 80 cm. Its nuts are not for eating, and yield very little oil. But the tree's broad stretch provides ample shade and oxygen.