N007 - Stichting Samay ( Bolivia): 

A pine plantation in the Bolivian 

Andes? 

 
 
 
In association with: 
 
 
 
Made by: Jesper, Wouter, Ralph And Tobias. 
Index 
❖ Introduction 
➢ What is world school. 
➢ Who is our client. 
❖ Assignment 
➢ What is the problem. 
➢ What the client expect from us. 
❖ Research 
➢ Which experts did we ask. 
➢ All our emails.  
➢ All our calls. 
❖ Process 
➢ How did our communication go? 
➢ How did our collaboration work? 
❖ Results 
❖ Conclusion 

   
Introduction 
 
This paper is about our assignment from worldschool. We got this 
assignment from Menno Staarinck. The assignments is about the 
agroforestry plantation in bolivia. Menno Staarinck asked us to contact 
tree experts to get a different look on this subject. In this report we will 
discuss our findings on this subject. 
 

Our client 
Samay Foundation 
The Samay Foundation focuses on projects that are at the cutting edge 
of poverty reduction and environmental applications. Typical projects 
include agroforestry, reforestation, education and solar lamps. They 
mostly work in the higher parts of Bolivia.  
The foundation was founded in 2002. In the early years they have 
realized a series of social projects. Nowadays, however, they focus on 
projects that are on the cutting edge of poverty reduction and 
environmental applications. The Samay Foundation has a 4-member 
board, some volunteers, including local Bolivians, who lives in the 
Netherlands and they especially have an extensive network of 
collaborators and partnerships in Bolivia. Themes they deal with 
include poverty, erosion, reforestation and climate change. 
 

The Samay Foundation aims to: 

- Promote sustainable development cooperation at national and 
international level. 
-To stimulate a better environment and greater environmental 
awareness at national and international level. 
 

The work area of ​the foundation is: 

-Bolivia and other countries with less prosperous economic and social 
development in their relationship with the Netherlands and Europe. 

 
 
   
Assignment 
What is the problem: 
Large-scale deforestation of the Bolivian highlands began with 
the advent of the mining industry in the late 18th century and continued 
through to the mid twentieth century. Although train engines and ore 
smelters were converted to oil and coal in the 1920s, and kerosene 
began to replace wood as a fuel at that time (West, 1987), nearly 200 
years of heavy deforestation, followed by over-grazing as rangelands 
were heavily stocked to utilize primary succession(West, 1987), resulted 
in much environmental damage. 
As a result, fuel wood is very limited and animal wastes are used 
for this purpose rather than as desperately needed fertilizers. 
Agricultural lands are cultivated for three years and then followed for 
twelve, during which time they are also heavily grazed. Such 
management is not conducive to soil conservation. 
Due to the effects of climate change (changing precipitation patterns, 
extreme weather, changes in minimum and maximum temperatures), 
these problems are amplified. 
 
What the client expect from us: 
Menno Staarink expects from us a report, with the view of us and the 
view of the experts about the idea to plant the Pine tree in de Bolivian 
Andes.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

   
Communication with the experts and the 
results 
 
Beste Tobías, Wouter, Jesper en Ralph, 
Wat zijn jullie met een interessant onderzoek bezig! 
  
Om terug te komen op jullie vragen: 
Volgens mij is het geen goed idee om de deze Pinus aan te planten. Ik 
zou eerder voor een mix van inheemse boomsoorten en struiken gaan 
(die oorspronkelijk voorkomen in dit deel van Bolivia). Ga dus eerst 
uitzoeken wat er normaal gesproken in deze gebieden groeit of groeide, 
en probeer dat na te bootsen of te herstellen. 
  
Struiken groeien iets sneller en zorgen dus eerder voor 
bodembedekking. Ik zou daar bijvoorbeeld ook struiken bijzetten die 
zorgen voor stikstofbinding, waardoor de bodem op een natuurlijke 
manier bemest wordt. 
Verder zou ik vooral voor loofbomen kiezen (als die voorkomen op die 
hoogte). De bladeren zorgen voor een natuurlijke aanvoer van 
organische stof aan de bodem die het bodemleven kunnen voeden. 
Als er sprake is van een verzuurde bodem, kies dan bomen die bladeren 
hebben met een hoog calciumgehalte (in Nederland is dat bijvoorbeeld 
de linde). Het calcium zorgt voor een natuurlijke verhoging van de pH 
(basisch). 
  
Ik zou dus eerste voor bodemherstel gaan, en daarna pas kijken of er 
nog een economisch iets te behalen valt. Om meteen een productiebos 
aan te planten lijkt mij niet realistisch. Ook is het twijfelachtig of je 
hiermee bodemherstel kunt bereiken. Ga maar eens kijken in een 
dennenbos in Nederland. Daar groeit vrijwel niks op de bodem. De 
dennennaalden verteren heel langzaam en het bodemleven zal dus 
nauwelijks op gang komen. 
  
Ik hoop dat jullie hier iets aan hebben! 
  
Vriendelijke groet, Boki Luske 
 
 
 
 
First we called “Quercus Boom Experts” to ask them about their view of 
the idea to plant the Pinus Radiata in the Bolivian Andes. They said that 
our project is very interesting, but that they could not help us, because 
they are specialized in trees in Europe and not in trees in other 
continents. But they gave us the number of someone else, who studied 
at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Science and is very 
specialized in agroforestry. His name is Bas van der Veer.  
We asked him about his view of the idea to plant the Pinus Radiata in 
the Bolivian Andes and he said: “The pine (Pinus Radiata) is a suitable 
tree to use for sustainable forestry, then it would be justified and have a 
positive contribution. But for agroforestry the Pinus Radiata would not 
be suitable because the den leads to acidification of the ground.” 
 
We also got a reply from “agroforestry nederland”. They told us that the 
suggested tree of Menno Staarinck is not the right tree. What they 
suggested was a mix of native species of trees and bushes. The 
argument they gave with this is that bushes grow quicker than trees 
and they give ground coverage faster. They also told us to primarily 
focus on soil recovery.   
Process 
Every week we had a discussion about our project and other subjects 
such as: our effort, our motivation and contact with our client. We also 
look back on the things we finished and we check those things for 
mistakes and other improvements. These meetings are really nice to 
have, because we check everything and that’s how we keep up with the 
schedule. This is how we successfully finished our project on time. 

How did our communication go? 

We worked really hard contacting different sources for information for 
our client. We emailed different companies and called experts. We also 
did some literature research on the internet. This is how we got enough 
information for our client to be satisfied. 
 
 

 
 
Results 
We have done different kinds of research such as: Literature research 
and we also gathered information by contacting experts. We called 2 
experts and mailed 2 experts/companies.  
 
First we called “Quercus Boom Experts” to ask them about their opinion 
on the idea to plant the Pinus Radiata in the Bolivian Andes. They said 
that our project is very interesting, but that they could not help us, 
because they are specialized in trees in Europe and not in trees in 
other continents.  
But they gave us a number from another expert: Bas van der Veer. We 
asked him about his view of the idea to plant the Pinus Radiata in the 
Bolivian Andes and he said: “The pine (Pinus Radiata) is a suitable tree 
to use for sustainable forestry, then it would be justified and have a 
positive contribution. But for agroforestry the Pinus Radiata would not 
be suitable because the den leads to acidification of the ground.” 
 
We also mailed 1 university (Wageningen) and one company in the 
Netherlands. Unfortunately the experts in Wageningen university didn’t 
answer our email. But we did get a response from Agroforestry 
Nederland. They gave us the same answer as Bas van der Veer gave us, 
this tree is the best for sustainable agroforestry. They also told us 
about a solution for the problem in the Bolivian andes: use a mix of 
native species of trees and bushes. The argument they gave with this is 
that bushes grow quicker than trees and they give ground coverage 
faster.  
They also told us to primarily focus on soil recovery. 
 
 

   
Conclusion 
The conclusion of all the research is as follows. The tree (Pinus Radiata) 
that Menno Starink suggested as replacement in bolivia is not the ideal 
tree for agroforestry. The Pinus Radiata is good for sustainable forestry 
and has a high survival rate. The disadvantage of Pinus Radiata is that 
it acidifies the soil. This is precisely not the intention, because the 
acidity is already too high in Bolivia. The experts that we have spoken to 
recommend trees or a mix of native trees and bushes.