Clay Plager-Unger is the former director of Planet Drum Foundation's Eco-Ecuador project.
The steep mountainside that rises above the Astillero neighborhood poses an enormous risk for mudslides to the residents who live below it, and could potentially block access to the bridge across the Río Chone estuary, the mall, and the main access road to Bahía de Caráquez. Over the years, Planet Drum has planted more than 10 revegetation sites in the area, but the hillside is […]
Ricardo’s cousin contacted him about removing a beehive from a piece of land in Leonidas Plaza where he was clearing brush. After an inspection, it appeared possible to capture the hive and transfer it to Ricardo’s farm. The hive was located in a cement tube, which was partially buried in the dirt. Over the course of two days, we cleared the brush covering the hive, dug […]
Early December was the culmination of the Sixth Phase of funding from the United Nations Development Fund for Small Grants Programme. On December 5th a conference was held to mark its completion. One year after receiving funding, projects from the Estuario Río Chone, La Segua, and Cordillera del Bálsamo Biocorridor gave presentations about what they had accomplished during the year. I was chosen to present about […]
Tree production at the greenhouse continues to progress smoothly. After having collected, prepared and planted seeds, there are lots of seedlings germinating in the elevated seedbeds. We had a load of 2,100 used plastic bottles to repurpose as tree planters delivered to the greenhouse. Volunteers helped to organize trees, mix soil, cut the tops off bottles, and fill them with soil for transplanting. We transplanted approximately […]
I bumped into an old friend, Acurio, who lives in the San Roque neighborhood on the hillside above Bahía. He planted some Planet Drum trees at his house about ten years ago and asked if he could have some more. I offered to take a batch of trees to his neighborhood and to plant trees with him and his neighbors. A few days later, with the […]
Our friend Yocasta reached out to me again about planting more trees with community residents, this time with the Caran neighborhood, which is located in Leonidas Plaza. At first only a few residents came out to help us for tree planting, but little by little more and more showed up. Some helped dig holes and plant trees, others offered advice. A few took trees to […]
To increase tree production capacity, we built a fourth elevated seedbed at the greenhouse. Planet Drum volunteers Mary Lou, Camile, Julia, Emile and Dirk all helped with the construction. Bamboo pieces were cut to length, and some were split in half lengthwise. Holes were dug in the ground for the supporting posts. The bottom of elevated seedbed is made of split pieces of bamboo laid side […]
We took a weekend excursion to camp out at the Punta Gorda Nature Reserve, which is owned by long time friend and environmental collaborator Ramon ‘Moncho’ Cedeno. Ramon has built a cabin and campsite on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean surrounded by isolated and relatively intact Dry Tropical Forest. The reserve is located in the middle of the Cordillera del Balsamo Biological Corridor and […]
An old acquaintance from San Vicente had been in touch with Orlando about planting trees in his neighborhood. Despite being a very impoverished area, most of the residents had beautiful gardens with lots of trees, plants, and flowers. They were very excited about receiving trees. We arrived with a group five volunteers and delivered 100 native fruit producing trees. After meeting with the residents and planting […]
We visited the Algarrobos School in Canoa to finish planting the second elevated seedbed with the sixth graders and assist with the garden projects at the school. The sixth graders had brought in mandarina [mandarin], naranja [orange], limon [lime], papaya and other seeds from home for planting at school. We mixed the soil in the elevated bed and planted the seeds with the students. Afterwards […]