Sustainable Palo Santo

Sustainable Palo Santo Ecuador !

palo santo (Bursera Graveolens) is a species found in Central and South America in the dry forests, it has been used by some ancestral cultures due to its bio-chemical and esoteric healing properties.

In Ecuador it is found in some provinces of Loja, Manabi, Santa Elena, this species has been in danger of disappearing from our territory due to bad management and over exploitation.

In the 90s based on investigations it was found that it was used as wood for charcoal and in other cases the plants were part of the pasture for cattle.

Palo Santo is a species of the Bursera Graveolens family, which grows in the dry forests of Ecuador, mainly in the province of Manabi. It is known as sacred wood due to the benefits it provides.

These trees can measure 4 to 10 meters in height, which should not be cut down because they lose their properties. It is necessary to wait 40 to 50 years until the tree dies by itself to be able to use it. Palo Santo wood has a pleasant and intense aroma.

The Palo Santo  was in danger of disappearing from Ecuador due to the bad use of the wood. 20 years ago the trees were cut down to make Charcoal, in other cases the forests were used to raise cattle and the baby plants were eaten, because of all this we started the project Palo Santo Delta Tau, today El Artesan.

The reforestation project consists of planting 5,000 Palo Santo trees and giving them sustainable management for their conservation. An Integrated Management Plan (PMI) was drawn up to implement the project, which establishes detailed actions to prevent, control, and correct environmental impacts.

The Ministry of the Environment (MAE) granted the license for sustainable forest harvesting, issuance and issuance of movement guides, because we have an Integrated Management Plan that guarantees the sustainability of Palo Santo.

In order to get this plan approved, several steps were taken:

– First, the Integral Management Project was created.
– Secondly, the zoning of the property was recognized.
– Third, a meeting was held with the community.
– Fourth, a survey of the community’s inhabitants was conducted.

After years of working with the Sacred Wood we have developed special techniques for a better use of the “Palo Santo in Ecuador”.

• First we need to point out that No trees are cut down for making the Products, all of them are made from the collected wood from death Trees, the older the Wood the better our Products.
• Sorting the Wood is the most important step before we make any product, each part of the tree has an specific use. ex: Branches = Oil.
• We make our products 100% by hand, we produce quality not quantity.
• 0 waste, we run different steps Oil, Sticks, Cones, Dust, so that we can use 100% of the resources.

Working with communities give us the chance to involve the people to the Protection of the Palo Santo Forest.