Enriching the rainforest with native fruit trees: an ecological and economic analysis in Los Tuxtlas (Veracruz, Mexico)

Tropical forests continue to be deforested because forest owners believe they can earn more income through land uses involving forest conversion. A case study in a Mexican rainforest revealed that enrichment planting with the native tree species Pouteria sapota (‘mamey’) is a management approach that can increase the commercial value of the forest enough to compete with these destructive land uses. Depending on the land value, planting more than 40‐200 seedlings per hectare into the natural forest is expected to have a higher net present value than one hectare of existing cattle pasture. To arrive at this conclusion, we were able to project long-term tree growth and fruit production from a few years’ increment measurements, based on a new method for estimating ages of tropical trees without annual growth rings. This approach facilitates rather rapid cost-benefit analysis of tropical forest management with native species. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.