Francisco Martinez is the CEO of Fundación La Iguana, an organization that works on environmental projects in Ecuador’s urban areas. Concerned about the lack of green areas in Ecuador’s cities and the overabundance of exotic plants, Fundación La Iguana undertakes projects designed to reforest cities with native species. Francisco previously worked for the Secretary for Administration and Finance of the Organization of American States. He has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Universidad del Azuay.

City Arborist V.J.Comai spent some time with Francisco when he was in Burlington for a month last summer on a State Department sponsored exchange program. V.J. and Francisco shared their urban forestry experiences and V.J. has since been advising Francisco from afar on implementation of the method used to grow trees which is used at the City Tree Nursery started by Branch out Burlington at the UVM Horticultural Research Center. Photos show Francisco’s first test plots using this growing method. V.J. continues to correspond with Francisco and advise him.