Clay Plager-Unger is the former director of Planet Drum Foundation's Eco-Ecuador project.
The Catholic University in Km. 8, where the main Planet Drum greenhouse has been located for the past thirteen years, is in the process of demolishing one half of the university’s building infrastructure. Simultaneously they are doing renovations on the other half and building entirely new structures for classrooms on top of the area that was previously used for Planet Drum’s greenhouse. While this is happening, […]
A friend of Planet Drum’s from San Vicente, Marcos Cevallos, contacted me about receiving a tree donation for the Colegio Elias Cedeño Jerves in Canoa. I suggested he pick up 100 native fruit trees (Chirimoya, Guava de Machete, Pechiche, and Mandarina) that we had available at the new Planet Drum house. The trees will be planted at the school by the students. When Marcos arrived, he was […]
A committee, which is headed by Patricio Tamariz, Planet Drum’s original contact in Bahía, held a meeting to discuss plans for rebuilding Bahía. The committee, which is part of the Ministry for Urban Development and Housing (MIDUVI), has a proposal for 8 development projects in Bahía. The projects were presented by urban architect Carolina Proaño to a group of community representatives in order to receive feedback about […]
The Catholic University is in the midst of demolishing buildings damaged during the earthquake, and beginning to build foundations for new structures next to and on top of the Planet Drumgreenhouse’s previous location. Orlando has done an excellent job of making sure that the demolition and construction crews don’t damage our greenhouse operations amidst the mayhem. During the past week or so we have been moving […]
The implementation of mini-greenhouses to be installed in local communities and schools is being developed as a new aspect of the Dry Tropical Forest Revegetation and Bioregional Education Project. The first step is to build semi-portable raised seedbeds and donate them to people who are interested in participating. The seedbed is filled with rich soil for germinating seeds. Residents then help collect seeds for the […]
While I was out donating trees in downtown Bahía with Nicolas via triciclo we met one of the city parks’ caretakers who was cleaning the street. We gave him a tree and started to chat. He said he really liked plants, and was interested in receiving more trees in his neighborhood. He offered to help distribute and plant them with other local residents. I decided to […]
Padre Jorge Ugalde Paladines Colegio, a school in nearby San Vicente, that participated in Planet Drum revegetation workshops at the greenhouse in the past, recently was in touch with us again. They expressed interest in receiving more trees for the students and teachers to take home and plant. They are also interested in receiving a portable seedbed to begin producing their own trees in the […]
Planet Drum’s greenhouse operation enters a new era. Due to earthquake damages at the Catholic University, we are relocating the greenhouse to the other side of the soccer field. The new site is located in the middle of an old revegetation site which was planted by Planet Drum field manager Heather Crawford and volunteers in 2005. We will use the natural shade of a grove […]
Planet Drum Field Research Intern Nicolas from France has recently completed a three month erosion study on the hills near Bahía de Caráquez. Nicolas selected five areas to study (Bellavista, La Cruz, Km. 8, and behind the greenhouse at the Catholic University). Each area has two sites (measuring 8m by 8m), one with vegetation and one without vegetation. At each site, a concrete bollard was poured, […]
Nicola, Orlando’s daughter, is now a senior at the Eloy Alfaro High School. She told her teacher about the work that she has done with Planet Drum, including revegetation and gardening workshops, while she was a student at the Montúfar School. Her teacher liked the ideas, and decided to bring the eco-club students to the Planet Drum greenhouse to see first-hand the work that we […]