China donates 2 thousand trees to Costa Rican Huella del Futuro initiative

On July 7, 2021, a ceremony was held at the Professional Technical College of Los Chiles, where the first tree of the new "Forest of Friendship" between China and Costa Rica was planted by the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, and the ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Costa Rica, Tang Heng.

The forest, which is part of the "Huella del Futuro" initiative, will be located on the grounds of the Professional Technical College and will have a circular design, proposed by a team of forestry engineering professionals from the Environmental Bank Foundation and inspired by Chinese culture.

This will allow the planting of different forest and native species, including ceiba, coffee, medicinal plants, yellow bark, savannah oak, jacarandas, laurel, almond, and guanacaste amongst others, all of which will offer biodiversity, resilience to the ecosystem and a high educational value.

The Huella del Futuro initiative aims to reforest the northern part of Costa Rica, and works will local woman-led projects to ensure the ongoing care of the trees planted.

The goal is to plant 200,000 endemic floral, fruit and timber trees in nine cantons in the northern zone in preparation for the celebration of the Bicentennial of Independence, which occurs on September 15, 2021.