La Colombia’s Amazon rainforest holds a tremendous amount of biological diversity and water resources that are critically important to keeping our entire planet healthy and habitable.
The region, which is twice the size of the state of Oregon in the US, according to The Nature Conservancy, has faced serious and dangerous threats of deforestation for decades.
Earth.org reports that between 2002 and 2020, Colombia had lost 1.66 million hectares of the total 4.7-million-hectare tree cover. More than half of that loss was seen in the country’s Amazon region.
Thankfully, in 2023 (the latest year for which we have data), deforestation had fallen to the lowest levels in 23 years; however, there is still much work to do to ramp up conservation efforts and make environmental gains.
Julio Andrés Rozo Grisales is on a mission to do just that.
In his role as director of Amazonía Emprende– a green enterprise that has a native seed center and a Bosque school in Florencia, Caquetá–he aims to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares degraded by deforestation in the Colombian Amazon, with the help of Jiffy Pellets.
Restoration Starts with High-Quality Plant Material
In order to restore areas of the Colombian Amazon, Grisales says there must be “coherence.” To achieve that coherence, “the seeds must be of good quality, the nursery must be of good quality, and the containers in which these seeds germinate must also be of good quality,” he says.
“This is why I support and celebrate the implementation of Law 2232 of 2022, which promotes the use of non-plastic containers in nurseries,” Grisales adds.
Law 2232 of 2022 in Colombia establishes a legal framework for the conservation and protection of the country’s natural resources and biodiversity. This law aims to strengthen environmental management, promote sustainability, and establish mechanisms to prevent and control deforestation, among other actions.
“Using plastic containers ultimately results in waste, and if we leave waste behind, we are not being consistent with the goal of producing plant material sustainably. This law will drive innovations in seed management and germination technologies.”
This is why Grisales prefers to work with Jiffy–because solutions like J-7 Pellets are biodegradable.
“Managing an integrated nursery with biodegradable containers like Jiffy, high-quality native seeds, proper training processes, and environmentally conscious buyers of plant material can make ecosystem restoration a truly comprehensive and integral effort,” he says.
Success Comes Through Training, Innovation, and Collaboration
Grisales is quick to point out that this transition to greater sustainability and conservation of the Columbian Amazon won't happen overnight—it must be gradual and supported by training.
“Training will be essential, not just for container providers like Jiffy to enhance their outreach strategies to communities, but also for nurserymen to be open to learning new technologies,” Grisales says.
“If someone resists, they may continue using plastic bags, but the law has set deadlines, and it will be difficult to shift nurseries once the adaptation period has passed,” he adds.
There’s another advantage for companies offsetting their carbon footprint or those undertaking restoration or forestry projects: stronger seedlings.
“Root development, growth, and reducing the risks associated with plant material loss are all key,” Grisales says. “Technologies like Jiffy help reduce such risks.”
Jiffy Pellets – Helping Growers Around the World Produce Stronger, Healthier Plants
For more than 60 years, growers have turned to Jiffy to help them produce billions of first-rate crops because our J-7 pellets offer:
- Enhanced root development with their combined open-wall, net container, and media design.
- Ease of use because they are light, compact, and can be transplanted directly into containers or the ground.
- Versatility and customization to accommodate any grower’s plant types or growing conditions.
- Sustainability with peat-reduced and peat-free options to minimize environmental impact.
- Biodegradability because Jiffy’s J-7 pellets are now produced with fine-fibre bioweb made of polylactic acid.
- Compliance with the European standard EN13432 certification.
Download our free Jiffy Pellets brochure to learn more about J-7s, and all of our propagation solutions
Editor’s note: Quotes by Julio Andrés Rozo Grisales have been translated to English from Spanish.
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Jiffy is a leading global supplier of premium growing media and solution thinking. We aim to serve you, our customers in plant propagation and cultivation, to achieve better results with fewer worries. We do this by continually improving, innovating, and working toward our common goals, based on scientific research, teamwork, and decades of experience. Let’s develop sustainable plant growing solutions together: Let’s start today!
