Justification
Along their history, the fragile ecosystem
of RapaNui it has been seriously degraded, paleobotanic
and archaeological studies have confirmed the extinction
of species, in the last 38 thousand years big climatic
changes just to eruptive episodes even produced extinctions
of woody species before the arrival of their first inhabitants.
I process that is accentuated with the arrival of the
man to the Island toward the century V A.C. they contributed
this the pruning agriculture and it touches, the envelope
exploitation of the fauna (the archaeological registrations
give bill of the consumption of species of Owl, Heron,
and diverse Marine Birds extinct today), the introduction
of invasive species like the Polynesian Rat and the
exploitation of forest resources for the trasport of
Moai and the Construction of Ahu (Ceremonial platform).
Among the extinct species more renowned appears the
Palm of Easter Island (Paschalococos disperta), just
to the toromiro tree (Sophora Toromiro) and the Hau
Hau bush (Triumffeta semitriloba) they were the predominant
species of the prehistoric subtropical forest. In historical times with the transformation
of Rapa Nui, in an enormous cattle country property,
takes place the extinction of the Toromiro and the Sandalwood
(Santalum sp.), the reduction at critical levels of
conservation of the Hau Hau, Mako´i (Thespesia
Populnea) and Ngaoho (Caesalpinia major), among other
species. The introduction of new cultivations took place
in the plants of nutritious value a loss of its biodiversity,
as the case of the Taro that they are conserved only
6 of the 24 varieties gathered by Metraux in 1938, some
very scarcely represented, something similar it happens
with the Sweet potato (of 25 recognized today only 5
are conserved), Sugar Cane (three varieties are mentioned,
today only 2 are conserved, one introduced in historical
times), Yam (41 mentioned varieties, and only one is
cultivate today), Bananas (10 varieties mentioned by
Metraux, today 7 are recognized) and Pumpkins (extinct
in historical times, they were reintroducing recently).
Today, the increment of the livestock,
the burn of grasses and the propagation of invasive
vegetable species, just to plagues also exotic, they
threaten their native and naturalized flora gravely.
The envelope exploitation of wooded
for craft, bark and fruits of species like the Mako´i
(carved of figures of high commercial value), Mahute
(their bark is used for the making of typical suits),
Marikuru and Ngaoho (its seeds are used for necklaces),
they have put since in risk to these species it is very
scarce its cultivation, preferring the population to
extract them of the natural environment, generating
a serious risk for the survival of these species.
The main environmental problem prioritized
by the project resides in the scarce number of individuals
of the species and subspecieses mentioned, and the proposed
solution is to increase the number of individuals of
the endemic and naturalized vegetable species of cultural,
nutritious, for the making crafts and medicinal value.
Also we propose to recover the ancestral
agricultural structures that are in state of abandonment,
repopulating them with the new individuals, contributing
likewise to their setting in value and conservation.
