Clay Plager-Unger is the former director of Planet Drum Foundation's Eco-Ecuador project.
During the second meeting in Bahía de Caráquez this year for coordinating a reforestation effort organized by the CORFAM organization (a provincial-wide reforestation initiative led by the regional government), local environmentalists discuss strategies for organizing events in Bahía de Caráquez as part of a larger civil day of ecological action which will take place on February 20th. Throughout the Manabí province, hundreds of thousands of […]
The much-hyped El Niño rains have only made a small appearance in Bahía de Caráquez thus far this rainy season (typically January-April). As of late January it has only rained hard three times, plus a handful of drizzles. Due to recent years of (severe) drought conditions, the rains have been desperately needed for the survival of forest vegetation, and the hills have turned from dusty […]
Dry Tropical Forest Revegetation Project Overview July, 2015 The Dry Tropical Forest Revegetation Project has the following long-term objectives: Ecosystem Restoration Protecting the Environment Bioregional Education During the past few months, significant progress has been made on all of these fronts. Thanks to the international volunteers who have assisted making this happen, and to the interest of local residents in conserving and restoring their surrounding […]
December 6th, 2014 – March 17th, 2015 Field Report It’s been an odd rainy season so far, drier than normal. In January it hardly rained at all, and in February it only rained towards the end of the month. Finally, now in March it’s raining a little more. As of early February, only 20% of farmers in the province had planted anything at all, which […]
September 1 – December 5, 2014 Field Report In September, with the help of volunteers Joe and Grace, an extension to the greenhouse was constructed in order to have more space for storing supplies and for working. The ramada used for storage was tripled in size. There is now much more space for storing plastic bottles and a new area for working in the shade. […]
July 30 – August 29, 2014 Field Report In August, Planet Drum hosted several educational workshops at the greenhouse with students from the Fanny de Baird School in Bahia and the Padre Jorge Paladines High School in San Vicente. The visiting students were given a brief lecture on the main features of the dry forest bioregion and a tour of the greenhouse. Afterwards, they participated […]
June 11 – July 29, 2014 Field Report The past seven weeks have been dedicated to hosting revegetation workshops with local school students at the greenhouse. The Fanny de Baird school has 16 groups of students (averaging 40 students in each group) who are in the proper age range for participating with Planet Drum. So far students from the 8th and 9th grades (ten groups) […]
April 21 – June 10, 2014 Field Report The Revegetation Project is moving in exciting new directions and expanding its scope. The goal for 2014 is now to produce 15,000 trees in the greenhouse. 13,000 of them will be distributed to locals and 2,000 trees will be planted and maintained directly by Planet Drum. Revegetation workshops held at the greenhouse are an important way to […]
March 11 – April 18, 2014 Field Report The very sparse rainy season persists. And now that it is late April, it is likely that it is wrapping up. The weather has been cooling off slightly, especially in the evenings, which is considered a sign that the dry season is approaching. Rumors of a possible El Niño developing later in the year are spreading through […]
February 6 – March 10 2014 Field Report The rainy season has been on the very light side this year. In fact, it’s hardly been raining at all. Larger plants and trees from previous years that already have big roots are doing well and can take advantage of every little drizzle and downpour. Smaller, more recently transplanted trees are struggling to take root with the […]