In 2022, more than 1,000 smallholder farmers joined the CommuniTree Carbon Program in Nicaragua. One of them was Lucia Martinez, a mother, grandmother, and farmer from the small community of el Limón, San Juan de Limay, who’s reforesting 2.75 hectares of her land. We recently spoke to Lucia to find out more about why she joined CommuniTree, her thoughts about the program so far, and her hopes for the future.

Meet Lucia Martinez

On any given day, you can find Lucia milking her two cows, tending to her pigs and chickens, and growing crops like beans, maize, and corn. Now, she has added maintaining her growing forest to her list of daily activities. For Lucia, this has been a long-held ambition. “Planting trees has always been my dream. I love that there is a project that supports me in doing this”, she tells us.

When asked how she heard about CommuniTree, Lucia explains that two of her children already participate in the program. Watching their experience instilled a sense of confidence and trust. “I have seen how the trees grow in beautiful lines”, she says, “and that the project delivers what it promises.”

“The more trees the better!”

After expressing her interest, Ronald, one of APRODEIN’s field technicians, visited Lucia at her home. He explained the program in more detail, including the different planting designs. Lucia opted for the mixed species intervention, which involves planting a mixture of multipurpose hardwood species and fast-growing firewood species on degraded, under-used land. “The more trees the better”, she laughs.

This passion for reforestation is evident in our conversation with Lucia. “I love the trees” she explains, “because I know that without them there is no life”. She’s excited to see them grow, although accepts that she might not live to see her forest reach maturity. But it is the future generations she is thinking of. “I have children and grandchildren, and I will leave them the best inheritance: my trees.”

Future sources of income

This legacy is especially important in Nicaragua, where many rural communities are feeling the effects of climate change first-hand, Lucia’s community included. She describes how she was badly affected by the 2021 drought. She lost all her crops and struggled to make ends meet. Now, Lucia is looking to her forest for new sources of income. “I hope that in the future, I can earn enough money to live from my trees alone”, she says.

The payments Lucia receives for ecosystem services are already helping her and her family. As she looks out across her land, she says there will be other benefits, too. “I know that when these trees are big, my cows will be happy because they will have shade , and my community will have better oxygen to breathe.”

Support from APRODEIN

Lucia planted nearly 5,000 seedlings on her farm during Nicaragua’s rainy season, allowing them to grow and build resilience to survive their first dry season. When asked if she found planting difficult, Lucia replies: “Not at all! As I mentioned, I love the trees and I enjoyed the whole season of planting them in the field.” She also describes how the help she received from APRODEIN, our local reforestation partner, exceeded her expectations.

“APRODEIN has supported me from the start. I was surprised that they gave me the wire I needed to protect the parcel of the land I’m reforesting, where I planted the trees. They gave me the seedlings and the technician taught me how to make a nursery. He explained how to prepare the land before planting, how to plant the trees, and how to take care of them.”

This technical support is, she says, one of her favourite things about CommuniTree. That, and the financial support she receives. “The money APRODEIN gives me for taking care of the trees stays with my family”, Lucia says. As for her favourite tree? It’s the spiny cedar. “I have many planted. I love the shade it provides and how beautiful it is.”

Planting trees offers another option

When asked about the future, Lucia says she is looking forward to working with the project so that her trees grow tall, giving her additional revenue streams. She is encouraging others to do the same. “I’ve told several people about the project, and they are already in communication with the technicians”, she explains.

CommuniTree is founded on the basis that people need to get more value from growing trees than other alternatives. This is particularly relevant in Nicaragua, which has been experiencing a mass exodus in recent years, with a lack of livelihoods opportunities being one of the driving factors. Lucia herself says that almost everyone she knows has emigrated to the United States. But she sees the project having a positive impact on her community. “We are creating awareness that planting trees is the best option to live better.”

For Lucia, the next step of the journey is to nurture her newly planted forest. This involves activities like weeding, pruning, and thinning. APRODEIN’s field technicians will be monitoring the parcel’s progress and helping her resolve any issues. We look forward to partnering with Lucia – and all the other smallholder farmers who are part of CommuniTree – to improve rural livelihoods and accelerate the restoration of the world’s forests.