Welcome to the 2022 Summer Conservation Forum and Tour & Southeast Region Meeting of the National Association of Conservation Districts!
Download the Sched app (Apple) (Android) and search NACD for easier access to event schedules, session descriptions, speaker profiles, and more from your phone. Ask any NACD staff member for assistance. We are so happy to have you here with us in Puerto Rico!
Tour to the center of the island. After driving a short distance on the highway from San Juan to Coamo, you will start to see drastic changes in topograhy and ecologic communities. From Coamo, the group will begin traveling up through the mountains on Puerto Rico’s scenic Ruta Panoramica (“panoramic route”). It takes approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to Caribe Soil Conservation District board member Milly González’s farm, where attendees will take in a breathtaking view, experience an 18-acre forest under conservation bursting with fruit trees and wildlife, and learn about a well-planned apiary with 8 beehives. Staff will conduct trips to the beehives, as well as among pathways within the forests to learn about soil conservation and protecting pollinators. For those who wish to hike, very deep in the woods, lives Elena, a 300-year-old Ceiba tree that it is well worth the walk to take a picture among her roots.
In the afternoon, after lunch on the farm, travel with Distrito Caribe’s staff to several farms on the coast in Santa Isabel, where Distrito Caribe has been sponsoring an irrigation project to enhance water supply for the south aquifer. This important project supplies water for local vegetable farmers, who have been resilient in the face of catastrophic events such as climate change, historic hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemic, and lack of water.
Lunch is included. Wear comfortable shoes, clothing, and sun protection for walking outside.
