The guaimaro, a highly prized tree bearing nutritious fruit, once abundant throughout South America, is slowly coming back to life in Colombia.

In Colombia’s northeastern Guajira region, new life is being breathed back into stocks of the beloved tree.

The leaves and fruit of the guaimaro have for centuries sustained animals and humans alike. But in recent times, deforestation has decimated the magical tree.

Now French-Colombian NGO Envol Vert have launched a reforestation program to bring the guaimaro back from extinction.

Brosimum alicastrum, to give the tree its scientific name, grows from Mexico to Brazil. Depending on the country, it is known variously as ramon, campeche, ojoche, mewu or, in English, as maya nut.

Guaimaro was as essential to pre-Colombian civilization as corn, and still is for a number of indigenous communities, who use the sap for medicinal purposes to treat asthma, anaemia and rheumatism. But its qualities have been forgotten by…