Posts

In January a group of volunteers from the One World Institute joined the project for a few weeks. Their help was crucial for doing a major reorganization of the greenhouse. Trees were sorted by species, weeds removed, and fresh soil added to bottles where the soil had compacted over time. At this time, there are 21 different […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]