457 JULY 2015, VOL. 40 Nº 7 0378-1844/14/07/468-08 $ 3.00/0 Eduardo D. Greaves. B.Sc. in Physiecs, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA. M.Sc. in Physics, Manchester University, UK. M.Sc. in Extractive Metallurgy and Ph.D. in Physics, Imperial College, UK. Professor, Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB), Venezuela. Address: Department of Physics, USB. Apartado 89000, Caracas 1080 A, Venezuela. e-mail: egreaves20002000@yahoo.com Yelitza Marin. Agronomist, National Experimental Uni- versidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda, Vene- zuela. Professor, Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana (UNEG), Venezuela. KEYWORDS / Forestry Plantations / Pinus caribaea / Reforestation / Solar Energy / Venezuela / Received: 07/02/2014. Modifed: 05/11/2015. Accepted: 05/15/2015. Introduction Forests currently occupy 4×10 9 ha, representing 31% of the planet’s surface (FAO, 2010). They are one of the natural mechanisms that gath- er the energy of the sun. However, the progressive in- crease of the world population and its economic activity has been accompanied by a great- er ability by humanity to ma- nipulate the world environ- ment. In tropical countries, the need for long-fiber wood for the building and paper industries, and the lack of tradition in forest plantations has led to a harmful impact on natural forests. Recent years have seen in Latin America the disappearance of almost 5×10 6 ha of tropical forest (Marín, 1997). To re- cover the energetic and other benefits of the loss of natural forest, requires a global level and aggressive reforestation program that not only restores the losses but also attempts to increase the surface under vegetation and reduce desert and semi deserted areas of the world. To this end the Caribbean pine has been suc- cessfully used in reforestation programs in Latin America. The Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea ) is a rapidly growing species originating in Central America, where it grows be- tween 18º N (Belice) to 12º N (Bluefields, Nicaragua), at FORESTRY PLANTATIONS OF Pinus caribaea IN VENEZUELA AS A SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTOR Eduardo D. Greaves, Yelitza Marin, Francisco Visaez and José Vicente Hernández E. SUMMARY The Caribbean pine ( Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis) is a species that has demonstrated its capacity for successful dif- fusion in areas which were originally extensive savannas with oligotrophic sandy soils of low fertility, acid pH, and a wide variety of soil and pluviometric conditions. A reforestation pro- gram in Venezuela has planted a 550000ha artifcial forest, signifcantly changing the ecology of the area and creating an important biomass resource by effectively harnessing the energy of the sun at a yearly collecting power of 1710MW. The change of the albedo of large areas of the territory, the sequestering of 113×10 6 ton/year of atmospheric CO 2 and the production of useful biomass make this species of special interest for its propagation in tropical and subtropical areas of the north of Africa, the Mid- dle East and Asia. The infrastructure created in Venezuela for the propagation of the Caribbean pine and the extensive expe- rience gained in over 40 years of development are a resource that could be used to ‘paint in green’ the deserted areas of the planet, in order to improve the land, collect the energy of the sun, sequester CO 2 , help reduce the greenhouse effect of the at- mosphere and produce social welfare to the inhabitants. Francisco Visaez. M.Sc. in Environmental Science, UNEG, Venezuela. Specialist in Economics of Environment and Natural Resources, Universidad de Alcalá, España. PG degree in Geography, ULA, Venezuela. Manager, Maderas del Oriente, C.A., Venezuela. e-mail: franvi- saez54@gmail.com José Vicente Hernández E. Agronomical Engineer, Uni- versidad Central de Venezuela. Doctor in Biology, USB, Venezuela. Address: Depar- tamento de Biología de Organismos, USB. Apar- tado 89000, Caracas 1080A, Venezuela. e-mail: jnandez@ usb.ve