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Alliance for Strategic Communication, Education and Marketing of Native Plants of Puerto Rico (A.M.A.S.)

For the past five years, the AMAS steering committee in Puerto Rico has met to coordinate activities and promote a marketing campaign for native plants.

The campaign is based on the model used by Virginia Native Plant Marketing | Virginia DEQ. The campaign in Virginia began with the support of the Virginia Coastal Management Program. This partnership has been led by landscape architect Linda Barfield Decastro, who has been working in the area of Urban Forestry and Stormwater Planning in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia for the past 15 years.

Architect Barfield presented AMAS's efforts in April 2025 at the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) conference held at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Isla Verde.

Since 2025, the Puerto Rico Native Plant Marketing Strategic Alliance (A.M.A.S.) committee, in collaboration with the Santurce Ecosystem Restoration Coalition (C.R.E.S.), has been working on a project to raise awareness of native plant species with potential for ornamental planting, agriculture, and urban reforestation in the Puerto Rican archipelago.

Guía de Árboles Nativos de Puerto Rico
Esta publicación fue posible gracias a una subvención del Servicio Forestal del
Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos de América.
Esta Guía fue elaborada por Envirosurvey, Inc. y colaboradores, con el auspicio del
Instituto Internacional de Dasonomía Tropical del Servicio Forestal del
Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos de América.
El contenido de esta publicación se desarrolló como material de apoyo técnico para
las agencias y colaboradores integrantes del Subcomité de Vida Silvestre, Bosques
y Humedales del Comité Técnico Estatal del Servicio de Conservación de Recursos
Naturales de los Estados Unidos (NRCS, en inglés).

Guide to Native Shrubs of Puerto Rico
This first edition of The Native Shrub Guide for Conservation Practices in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands was developed by Envirosurvey, Inc. in conjunction with experts in natural resource conservation. The decision to publish this guide arose from the need to provide technical support to the Wildlife, Forests, and Wetlands Subcommittee of the NRCS Caribbean Area State Technical Committee. The guide aims to promote the propagation and use of 70 native shrub species in the implementation, certification, and monitoring of conservation practices on farms and private lands participating in conservation programs promoted by federal and state agencies.

The Right to Plant Native Crops
AMAS plans to develop a set of common definitions for managed natural landscapes, noxious weeds, lawn reduction, and native plants for use in local weed ordinances.

The AMAS leadership team is also planning a resolution that recognizes the essential value and importance of native Puerto Rican plants in a managed natural landscape and that also recognizes that a managed natural landscape means a planned, intentional, and maintained planting of native grasses, wildflowers, herbs, ferns, shrubs, or trees, including, but not limited to, rain gardens, prairie vegetation, and ornamental plantings, with the objective of improving water quality and controlling contaminated stormwater runoff.

Pollinators Guide for Agriculture
Learn about some of the pollinators in Puerto Rican agriculture and their interactions with native plants.

Which pollinator species and native plants or important or outstanding vegetative communities are most common in each area and suggest potential for ornamental, agricultural or urban reforestation and in the near future to have them available in local nurseries?
Please fill out our questionnaire to provide your suggestions for each Ecological Site Description.

Our Campaign
The campaign proposes using a community-based social marketing approach to encourage residents to move beyond simply raising awareness and take action: acquiring and planting native Puerto Rican species. The campaign also highlights how gardens with native plants connect with and contribute to conservation and the creation of habitat corridors in their communities and adjacent natural areas.

Comercialización de Plantas Nativas
La campaña de comercialización de plantas nativas en Puerto Rico podrá diseñar y lanzar la campaña "AMAS - Alianza para el Mercado de Plantas Nativas en Puerto Rico", con un equipo de representantes de organizaciones colaboradoras.

Join the Steering Committee
Among other activities of A.M.A.S., over the past five years, we have brought together volunteer groups biannually, in February and October. The next forum will be on October 9, 2026, in coordination with World Migratory Bird Day.
(https://www.migratorybirdday.org/) y la Quinta Feria de Polinizadores
(https://wipr.pr/celebraran-4ta-feria-de-polinizadores-en-el-jardin-botanico-de-rio-piedras/).

The action plan will be developed by the Alliance's Steering Committee through a prioritization exercise, identifying the needs and collaborative projects that the Alliance could most effectively and efficiently address and support. To involve all partners, two forums will be held to gather opinions on potential priorities and solicit ideas on how to address them to increase the use of native plants in Puerto Rico. This plan is the guide or roadmap for advancing the Alliance's priorities over the next two to five years (2021-2026), to better leverage resources, and to promote coordinated activities.

It is a working document and is not intended to be an annual operating plan detailing all the activities of the Alliance members. As we progress toward our objectives, new strategies may be needed, and new elements may arise for consideration.

Download our Action Plan and Learn About All Our Initiatives.

PLAN DE ACCIÓN AMAS

Alliance for Strategic Communication, Education and Marketing of Native Plants of Puerto Rico (A.M.A.S.)

Pollinators Guide for Agriculture Learn about some of the pollinators in Puerto Rican agriculture and their interactions with native plants.

Comercialización de Plantas Nativas La campaña de comercialización de plantas nativas en Puerto Rico podrá diseñar y lanzar la campaña "AMAS - Alianza para el Mercado de Plantas Nativas en Puerto Rico", con un equipo de representantes de organizaciones colaboradoras.

Pollinators Guide for Agriculture
Learn about some of the pollinators in Puerto Rican agriculture and their interactions with native plants.

Comercialización de Plantas Nativas
La campaña de comercialización de plantas nativas en Puerto Rico podrá diseñar y lanzar la campaña "AMAS - Alianza para el Mercado de Plantas Nativas en Puerto Rico", con un equipo de representantes de organizaciones colaboradoras.