Finca Matiz owned by MLR Forestal is declared a Private Wildlife Reserve

Since this September, the North Caribbean has a new Private Wildlife Reserve, the third that exists in the municipality of Siuna. It is the Matiz Farm, owned by MLR Forestal, where 67 hectares have been recognized with this certificate for their relevance in the conservation of biodiversity.

Omar Soza, technical manager of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) in the North Caribbean and Las Minas, highlighted “the effort that the company is making in terms of the environment. We have gone to the area to do field data collection, confirm coordinates, ecological studies and a whole series of established requirements that MLR has met.”

During the declaration ceremony held at the foot of the new reserve, Gino Zambrano, Chief of Operations of MLR Forestal, shared some facts about Matiz. “In 2018 MLR acquired this farm that has 487 hectares of which we currently have planted with teak and Acacia Mangium 341. There are 146 hectares destined for protection and within these 146 hectares there are 67 hectares that today are being declared a Private Wildlife Reserve. This area is a compact forest that will function as an oasis for those species displaced by humans.”

“Matiz will be a strategic ally of biodiversity”

Luis López, Sustainable Development Manager of MLR Forestal, recalled that when the property was acquired “we identified this forest and automatically stopped any type of operation, hence we have all the pioneer species of the region from the ceiba, Atlantic mahogany, precious woods that at some point have been affected by the advance of the agricultural frontier and that today we are restoring”.

López added that for MLR Forestal, the Matiz farm is very special because it has two important characteristics. “First, it is practically on one side of the urban area of Siuna, that makes Siuna more imposing throughout the Caribbean Coast and second, it has an important effect on biological connectivity with the core of Bosawas, so Matiz will be a strategic ally of biodiversity.”

Shelter, “green classroom” and carbon sequester

Zambrano also mentioned that the new reserve “will contribute to the good development of natural biological corridors used by threatened or endangered species, will be a refuge for the protection and conservation of biodiversity, will function as a green classroom to promote the development of environmental education activities for children and young people, it will restore the buffer zone landscape indicators and provide environmental services such as carbon dioxide capture and fixation to contribute to reducing the effects of climate change and global warming, so we hope this will be an example for other companies around us.”

The appointment of Matiz as a Private Wildlife Reserve takes place within the framework of the implementation of the ecological restoration strategy of MLR Forestal. With this plan, 550 hectares will be reforested for protection in order to enrich biological corridors, preserve flora and fauna and provide environmental services. The restoration will be done at a rate of 55 hectares per year and the trees planted will be of species that serve as feeders, umbrellas, shelter and to improve connectivity.

According to MARENA data, to date, in the municipality of Siuna there are three private wildlife reserves. The Altamira hacienda, the El Cortés farm and the Matiz farm. That is why for López “although we are on private property, the reserve is the heritage of the municipality, the region and Nicaragua.”