 In 1983, IE initiated Las Casas de la Selva (Houses of the Forest), a rain-forest enrichment project in Puerto Rico, acquiring nearly 1000 acres of land adjacent to the Guavate-Carite Forest with the goal of establishing various methods of forest enrichment and to promote sustainable tropical forestry.With the cooperation of Puerto Rican departments of development and forestry, some 40,000 seedlings of valuable timber species were line-planted to minimize the impact on surrounding forest and conserve biodiversity.In 2017, Las Casas won the Energy Globe award for Puerto Rico.