Climbing Trees

There are several different ways to harvest fruits from tropical trees. You can pick them up after they fall from the tree, you can knock them out of the tree with a long stick, you can climb the tree and collect them - or, as happens with disturbing frequency these days, you can cut the whole tree down.  The last practice is particular common with palms that have large infructescences, or are extremely tall, or have spiny stems that you don't want to climb. Collectors in Brazil have developed a wonderful piece of equipment (shown above) - consisting of a wooden triangle made from poles and a rope belt - for climbing spiny peach palm trees (Bactris gasipaes H.B.K.).  Truly a win-win solution for sustainable resource use. The collector gets the fruits, and the tree gets the opportunity to fruit again next year. [NOTE: Those are peach palm fruits in the foreground].