2015 International Year of Soils: Paine, the kingdom of the paulownias ...

06/04/2015

Paine is a commune of the Metropolitan Region composed of around 70.000 inhabitants and its main source of development is agriculture, activity of which live directly or indirectly more than 80% of its population.

Paine in Mapudungun means celestial, as the color of its characteristic skies, in which in the near future will be cut the beautiful flowers of the paulownias in its main avenues.

Despite its clear skies and abundant vegetation, Paine has been affected by the consequences of urban development and the agricultural industry. There is an alarming increase in air pollution due to the use of pesticides and CO emissions₂, and there is a dangerous degradation in the quality of the soils due to overexploitation.

For these reasons, a group of neighbors organized in the 2014 and began a re-bordering campaign that they called "1000 paulownias for Paine", with the purpose of decreasing the community's carbon footprint indexes and starting reverse the reality that afflicts them.

The qualities of the paulownias

Originally called Paulownia Stormy, this tree of Chinese origin seems to be perfect to withstand adversities such as climate change, pollution and even a fire, it can regenerate its roots, and better yet, to reverse these situations and rearrange the environment for their benefit.

The paulownias absorb ten times more of CO dioxide₂ than any other tree in the world (22 Kl per year) and consumes up to 90 liters of wastewater per year, while emitting large amounts of oxygen (6 Kl per day).

Being a meliferous tree, its flowers with honey help the reproduction of bees and the pollination of crops.

Among its spectacular features, it stands out its ability to regenerate its roots and growth vessels very quickly even in almost sterile areas.

reportajes_060415_2 Its leaves with a large amount of proteins, reaching a diameter of 50 cm., Make it an ideal tree to fertilize sterile fields and to be used in animal fodder.

The paulownias are ideal for a re-boring process because they grow extremely fast, reaching up to eight meters in only one year. In their adult stage they reach the 27 meters high.

The first rebounded section is the Darío Pavez road, which in 20 kilometers connects the towns of Champa and Rangue, where it is hoped that it will help reduce environmental noise and that its beauty will boost tourism.

The initiative has an initial cost of $ 30 million and aims to get the sponsorship of the municipality of Paine and some private companies with activity in the commune.