We all know that the rainforest is under severe threat. Excessive non-sustainable logging, mining, slash-and-burn agriculture, fragmentation, and forest fires are interrelated events which all contribute to the rapid decline of the rainforest. An estimated 30 hectares of rainforest are destroyed every minute. This is the size of one football field of rainforest destroyed each second.

Botanic gardens generally are ideally equiped to tell the visiting audience about plants and the natural habitats in which these occur. Sometimes, the story of the declining rainforest is also told, in order to raise public awareness and through that, also public concern. It is less obvious for a botanic garden to actually use the momentum created by exhibitions to actually start a conservation project. The Trésor Rainforest Project is an example of exactly such a conservation project.

In 1994 the Dutch regional office of BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International), based at Utrecht University Botanic Gardens, was launched. The objective was to start one or more conservation projects within the framework of BGCI, although Utrecht Botanic Gardens did not have the necessary financial means.

In order to resolve this, a meeting with potential sponsors was organised at the garden. As it turned out, the sponsors were the most interested in a project involving actual buying of rainforest in French Guiana to establish a nature reserve there. About 40 km southeast of Cayenne, 2464 hectares of species-rich rainforest were for sale. We called it the Trésor Rainforest Project, after a hill and savannah in that area with that name. The roughly 6x4 Km area is situated south of the road from Cayenne to Kaw. This road runs over the tops of the hill range called "Montagnes de Kaw". At its far end, the Orapu river forms a natural boundary. One-third of the 6x4 Km area slopes down from the lateritic "Montagnes de Kaw". Lower down, the area levels, and some parts are occasionally to almost permanently inundated. Several wet clay savannas also occur, and some 'forest-islands' in the savannas. All this leads to a high diversity in habitats, resulting in an area that is rich in plant species.

The financial viability of the project was assessed when sponsors started to get involved and used the project for their corporate publicity. Within 6 months, about 50% of the money needed to acquire the 2464 hectares was offered; too little to actually buy it, too much not to go ahead with the project. Since such a project is not core business for Utrecht University, the Trésor Foundation was established, in order to assume the legal and financial responsibility for the project. Utrecht University provided three board members, and three other members came from the sponsors. An independent chairman was to lead to board, no less than Mr. Ed Nijpels, at that time president of WWF-Netherlands and former minister of Environmental Affairs.

In January 1995, the rainforest was bought, partly by taking a mortgage, and the Trésor Rainforest Project was born.

In 1996 a photographic expedition was organised, together with the Dutch/French Nature Photography Agency Foto Natura/BIOS. Twelve photographers (9 Dutch, 2 French, 1 from Zimbabwe), including specialist photographers on landscapes, animals, plants, underwater photography, spent two weeks in French Guiana, to document the biodiversity. This would provide us with the much needed illustrations for promoting the project in The Netherlands and in French Guiana.

At the same time, the first botanical inventory of the Trésor Rainforest took place, by Dutch and French botanists already involved in the ongoing Flora of the Guianas Project. This scientific expedition resulted in a first assessment of the diversity of plant species in the forest.

The official legal status of Voluntary Nature Reserve was obtained from the regional authorities in French Guiana in 1997, following a well-documented request stating high value of this area of rainforest. This status legally provided the means to put an end to the ongoing hunting that, up till then, continued also in the now privately owned rainforest. Hunting in French Guiana is a major leisure event, on top of the hunting pressure for nutritional reasons. As a result, the wildlife in northern French Guiana is seriously depleted.

1998 marked the start of a public campaign for support. The main sponsor at that time of the Trésor Rainforest Project, Biohorma, had been asked to sponsor the IMAX-film "Amazon". "Amazon" is a very impressive movie on the amazonian rainforest, and due to the spectacular images attracted much public interest. This occasion allowed the Trésor Foundation to launch a public campaign at the IMAX movie theater. This was also widely covered by the newspapers and magazines, adding to the publicity. The publicity campaign was mainly funded by Biohorma.

The campaign aims at both acquiring funding from private individuals, as well as establishing specific public support. To this end, square meters of rainforest are offered for adoption. The idea of an adoption campaign was launched due to another sponsor, an electricity-producing company, at the occasion of the official inauguration of a new electricity-production unit. They offered 10 square meters to each of its business relations attending the inauguration, and the first certificate was offered to the Dutch Crown Prince. This occured in 1994, even before the official start of the project.

In 1999 a local association was officially established, to manage the Trésor reserve on a day-to-day basis. It proved quite difficult to do this from The Netherlands. Financial support was also obtained from the Dutch National Lotery, for a three-year period, both in support of reducing the mortgage and to help manage the reserve. This enabled the development of a botanical trail near the entrance of the Trésor Reserve, to be easily and safely accessible for visitors of the Trésor Nature Reserve. The trail was officially opened by the mayor of Roura, a nearby village, in 2000. The trail serves to promote the interest in the rainforest. It is well marked and made level as much as possible. It takes 1-1½ hours just to walk it from start to finish. Along the trail, labels mark specific trees and shrubs, revealing scientific as well as local names. Primary schools have taken up visiting the Reserve as well as discussing the rainforest at school.

Also in 2000, a botanical inventory of the plants and trees along the trail was produced by two collaborators of the Herbarium of the National History Museum in Paris (Poncy & Martin, 2000). The year 2000 also marked the construction of a wooden entrance building. This was completed in 2001, along with a fence. The entrance building allows us to expand our presentation on the rainforest regarding all those things that are not readily to be observed in the forest. Posters, showcases, etcetera assist in demonstrating the beauty of the rainforest. It can also accomodate overnight stay for a few people, if necessary.

In 2002 and 2003 we organised visits to the reserve for the private donors. Enthusiastic donors are our best embassadors. For these participants it is a very special holiday where they get first-hand information and very knowledgeable guides.

This year two scientific expeditions took place concurrently, one establishing a permanent plot to document changes in species diversity and distribution over time (Ter Steege et al, 2003). The other was to provide data on the geological and floristic data on the clay savannas within the reserve (Ek et al, 2003).

1. Conservation
   • 2464 hectares of rainforest saved;
   • Nature Reserve Status acquired;
   • hunting totally banned from the Trésor Reserve;
   • of the newly discovered palm the largest population occurs within the Trésor Reserve;
   • the Trésor Nature Reserve has at least positively influenced the long-awaited decision from the French government in Paris to establish the large nature reserve "Réserve Naturelle des Marais de Kaw-Roura", with which a close cooperation exists nowadays. This nature reserve covers almost 100,000 hectares.
   
   
2. Science
   • 4 botanical expeditions (Cremers et al. 1996; Ek et al., 2000; Poncy & Martin, 2000; Ek et al., 2003);
   • other scientific expeditions & research are carried out within the reserve and the resulting data made available to the Trésor Foundation;
   • new palm species (Bactris spec. nov.) and new bird-spider (Ephebopus cyanognatus) discovered inside the Trésor Nature Reserve;
   • permanent plots established for inventory of occurence frequencies of species and to record changes over time (Ter Steege et al., 2003).
   
   
3. Education & information
   • educational infrastructure (botanical trail and entrance building);
   • educational use by primary schools;
   • poster at airport Rochambeau;
   • flyer for local population and tourists;
   • a bilingual website (www.bio.uu.nl/tresor, currently under construction).
   
   
4. Organisation and funding
   • close cooperation with herbaria of Utrecht, Paris and Cayenne;
   • local Association Réserve Naturelle Trésor established;
   • extra funding for scientific research (expeditions);
   • new corporate sponsors found;
   • almost 1,000 private donors.

This story is about commitment and finding ways to make things work. It is an example of learning by doing. Since the start of the project, 8 years ago, we have learned that a project development does not always follow the lines as expected, nor do developments progress at the expected speed. Unforeseen events may speed up or slow down the foreseen development, or change its direction.

Now the network of partners is being expanded with similar organisations inside and outside The Netherlands. In addition, expansion of the project itself is also under consideration to increase the attractiveness of the reserve to visitors, and to justify the desired increase in educational and promotional materials and efforts. Conservation can go hand in hand with education and publicity, and in this project they must.

References

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International
  
  
• Utrecht Botanic Garden
  
  
• Amazon movie
  
  
• Cremers, G., J.J. de Granville, M.J. Jansen-Jacobs & B.H. ter Welle, 1996 - Inventaire préliminaire de la flore de la concession Trésor (Guyane-Française). Internal Report, Utrecht University.
  
  
• Ek, R.C., B.G. Bordenave, R. Sluiter & E.C. van der Knaap, 2000 - The floristic composition and vegetation structure of the Trésor Reserve, French Guiana / Inventaire de la composition floristique et de la structure de la végétation de la Réserve Trésor, Guyane Française. Internal report, Utrecht University.
  
  
• Ek, R.C., B. van de Riet, M.C. Doomen, 2003 - The savannas of the Trésor Reserve, French Guiana / Les savannes de la Réserve Trésor, Guyane-Française. Internal report, National Herbarium Netherlands-Utrecht Branch, Utrecht University.
  
  
• Poncy, O. & C. Martin, 2000 - Inventaire de la flore sur le sentier botanique de la Réserve Naturelle Volontaire Trésor. Première évaluation. D.I.R.E.N. & Laboratoire de Phanérogamie M.N.H.N., Paris.
  
  
• Ter Steege, H., D. Sabatier, J.F. Molino, O. Bànki, M.F. Prévost & R. Pelissier, 2003 - Report of the establishment of a permanent one-hectare plot in Réserve Naturelle Volontaire Trésor. Internal report, National Herbarium Netherlands-Utrecht Branch, Utrecht University.