National Forestry Corporation promotes rural employment and ecological restoration in Los Ríos

The production of native plants, the recovery of community spaces, and the generation of employment in rural areas are part of the work carried out by the Emergency Employment Program (PEE) of the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) in the Los Ríos Region.

During a recent technical visit, the regional employment coordinator of Los Ríos, José Mora Aguilera, visited the indigenous communities of Llancacura and Mashue, where PEE workers are engaged in the propagation and production of native plants.

“The workers of Llancacura are a very important group because they supply us with seeds of native species, as well as the group in Mashue, where they also propagate plants in nurseries, to later be used in ecological restoration of different areas of the Los Ríos region,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the national employment coordinator of Conaf, Claudio Moya Ulloa, highlighted the different techniques used by workers for the propagation of native species, whether through transplanting from the forest, which is later placed in raised beds, or through seeds, with their respective pre-germination treatments.

“In Llancacura they carry out transplanting, where they bring plants from remote locations and install them in raised beds, while in Mashue they work with seed propagation using more homogeneous genetic material. Both jobs require a lot of dedication and care. We find many women who have green thumbs and give us their talents to achieve this production that enables the corporation to cover different types of projects in the region,” he highlighted.

In the Mashue sector, six people work in the Emergency Employment Program and are dedicated to the production of native plants in nurseries.

One of the workers is Nora Suazo Saavedra, who recounted that it has been a good experience to learn the entire process that plants require for their development.

“First the seed is cleaned, then it is sown, then it goes to transplanting into tubes; all these are things I didn’t know when I started working here, and I have really enjoyed learning the entire process,” Nora proudly recounted.

Another of the PEE groups in the commune of La Unión is located in the Llancacura sector; here five people work, including Juan Epuyao Reyes, who valued the experience of working with Conaf.

In the Los Ríos Region, the program has 249 job positions, under a half-day work schedule, where men and women are responsible for preserving native species in rural areas, which are later used for reforestation of community spaces.