Mesoamerican Forestry Group (MFG)
THE OFFER
Over the past 13 years MFG has invested millions to bring the plantations to their current state. In the last few years we have also been heavily investing in putting up Hectares of Shade Cloth, importing and buying locally ornamental plants for the production of jungle greens in order to create an attractive short term revenue stream. This has mostly been done in the Poptun farm but it is currently being expanded to the other two locations. All this is being worked on while keeping a hands on maintenance approach on the core forestry side of the business. We strictly adhere to our silvicultural work plan which is designed for the production of lumber timber for furniture, musical instruments, parquet, etc. uses to supply regional buyers as well as specialized niche markets which are focused mainly on High value timber species like Rosewood. Our combined forecast is to sell close to 50,000 Cubic Meters of timber of which, more than half, is Rosewood.
Below you can learn more about our three plantations:
Sacpuye
Our oldest plantation, has 82 Hectares. It is located 5 Km. from the village of Sacpuye, which is located some 25 Km. from Santa Elena, the main city in the Petén region, and about 300Km. from the main port. The farm has an established dirt road, which leads to the village, and the village has an established dirt road, maintained by the state, of some 15 Km. leading to a paved road, which goes all the way to the port.
The oldest part of the plantation consists of over 30,000 Savannah Oaks, 1,000 Teaks, some Mahogany, and few other trees, which can be cut and sent to market within the next couple of years. Granted, those will have "thinning" diameters, hence have less value and higher processing waste. As mentioned above, we have started planting Phoenix Robelinii in the farm, to use the sales proceeds of the ornamental leaves to create short term revenues.
The crown jewel of the farm are obviously the Rosewoods. We calculate that extraction of Rosewoods can begin with the biggest ones at age 18. Rosewoods have been planted in phases:
The site conditions enable the Rosewood to grow at a mean annual rate of 6 Cubic Meters per Hectare per Year, hence an appreciation of roughly 450 Cubic Meters per Year of this specific timber. Please remember that it is all certified from seed, and comes with the extraction license.
Finca Kawil
Our second plantation which is located beside Lake Petén Itzá, has close to 100 Hectares in size, over 70 of which are planted. About 40 Hectares of the area is flatter to slightly undulate, and the rest is hilly. The farm sits right on the side of the road, 8 Km. from the asphalt road that leads to the port, and has an internal access road. The distance from the farm to the port is about 300Km. Due to the hilly part having thinner soils, the average growth rate here stands at 5 Cubic Meters per year per hectare, which still gives a total average growth of 350 Cubic Meters per year. Rosewoods here have been planted in two phases, and are currently (2018):
The flatter areas of the farm are currently being prepared for planting Phoenix Robelinii, in order to use the ornamental leaves to generate revenues that will pay for the maintenance of the farm until extraction.
Poptun
Our third plantation in the Machaquila area was planted in 2014, all in one year. The farm is located on the main dirt road (maintained by the state) between Poptun and Sayaxche, 41 Km. from the asphalt road that leads to the port some 200 Km. away. A bit over 17 Hectares of the farm are currently reforested with Cocobolo and Dalbergia Nigra, the rest has a natural forest, which has also been "enriched" with Mahogany trees. Due to the site conditions, growth rates are high at 8 Cubic Meters per year per Hectare, which enables an annual increase of more than 136 Cubic Meters. At the same time, this farm is our main producer of Tropical Greens (http://paradise-greens.com/), which is currently being exported to the US and Europe, and we are in the process of increasing the production area. The farm currently (2018) has the following inventory:
Reforested Rosewoods:
Ornamentals:
In addition, the site has a built packing house, a running river with clean water all year round and several natural water springs around the property.