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 One of the first consequences
of tropical deforestation - especially on the steep sloped mountains - the typical habitat of cloudforests - is soil erosion and land degradation. Another is climatic disturbances. Regular precipitation patterns
have degenerated into months of extreme drought followed by heavy downpours which wash away the fertile topsoil downhill. The consequences of the latter are strikingly apparent in Guallupe and the Mira valley.
 These areas have been totally
stripped of vegetation during the last 30 years. The resulting falls in yields have been confirmed by interviews with older farmers carried out by the foundation. The only way to counter this loss of land is by
reintroducing vegetation, such as trees, shrubs, grasses, bamboo's, in the form of "green contour-lines" against erosion. This ancient agricultural practice, together with a
form of terracing, was utilized by indigenous groups in the area, yet has been lost since the Spanish conquest.
 In response to this situation,
Fundación Golondrinas established the Production and Education Agroforestry Center (Centro Productivo y Educativo Agroforestal or CPEA) in 1993 with an adjoining tree nursery. Currently, the foundation manages 2 nurseries in
Guallupe, and Santa Rosa. More tree nurseries are planned for the villages around the Golondrinas reserve.
An agroforestry demonstration site - where the system of induced terracing is applied - was set up in 1993 and trees from the same tree nursery were planted
in contour lines. At that time Vetiver played an insignificant role in the agroforestry model.
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However, now Vetiver is a very important element of a viable and
sustainable alternative to the damaging agriculture techniques currently in practice. Vetiver responded very well to planting in all type of soils. After analysing and comparing the results of
different hedges, i.e. Cajanus cajan, Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucacephala, F.G. concluded that Vetiver performs best and should be the base of its agroforestry programme. It is now
experimenting with Vetiver as a support plant to rows of pineapple that were planted on the contour lines. Local
farmers grow pineapples in descending rows for various reasons, i.e.: it is easier to clear the weeds between the lines and the pineapples don't fall over because they are supported by the plant below. This method greatly increases the rate of erosion.
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The
foundation has planted literally
thousands of pineapples, supported
by parallel rows of Vetiver on
the contour lines and it should
be possible to measure the success
of this approach once the pineapples
are harvested. Since 1995 the
foundation has systematically
used Vetiver grass in all contour
planting, in stabilizing waterworks
and stabilizing previously eroded
land at the edge of the field.
Vegetative material (vetiver
root divisions or slips) and
documentation about the use of
vetiver in Soil Conservation
and Erosion Control are available
on request or look under http://www.vetiver.org
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