Bioregional Resources
In his numerous peregrinations, Peter sent us dispatches from distant bioregions, our eyes and ears, a sort-of latter-day combination of Darwin (as chronicler of minute botanical/zoological detail) and Bakunin (as pollinator of the Reinhabitory Movement). Bioregionalism Meets Local Autonomy in Mexico reports on the November 1996 Turtle Island Bioregional Gathering (TIBG) in Tepoztlán, Mexico. 1999-1010 index of Ecuador Dispatches August 2001: Reports from the Planet Drum Bioregional […]
Peace Boat off Baja CaliforniaOctober 8, 2006 This story is atypical at the start, then becomes progressively more unusual. It began when I gave a talk/show about living within the natural systems of the place that one inhabits for Be Good Café (a traveling media event that changes venue for each performance) in a large coffee bar in Tokyo. An American woman was waiting in […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador There is an intriguing cultural paradox mixed in with the conflicted assortment of values and human experience that have evolved from contemporary globalism. How can there be “world” identity and preservation of diverse cultures at the same time? Eating fusion-nationality food, working as an importer of flowers from Ecuador, discussing Saudi Arabian Islamism, wearing running shoes made in China and a shirt […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador August rain is nearly unheard of during the desert-like dryness of summer and fall in Bahia de Caraquez and the State of Manabi. So when there was a week of it last month with two days of memorable monsoon downpour people were bewildered and out of their confusion sprouted divergent theories. One universally understood truth is that this is Ecuador where […]
Murray Bookchin was one of the most influential thinkers in the formation of the anarcho-bioregional movement. Peter Berg’s homage to this most inscrutable luminary is from August 2006. Before offering any recollections about Murray it is necessary to make the disclaimer that if he was here he would quite possibly refute them. And that he might even dispute that statement! That said I can relax […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador The rainy season finally began at the end of January this year, late but potent. Only six weeks later the hills have been completely transformed from dust blurred brown-orange to wet vibrant green. Vine tendrils hang like searching snakes from trees and slink across paths. The ground is in a constant saturated state ranging from clutching mud that weighs down shoes […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador When I met a journalist on the street who told me she was now working at a pharmacy I didn’t immediately register what a contrast that was. It wasn’t surprising then because people in Bahia change jobs fairly frequently. I walked on thinking that her upbeat personality was suited to either position. Later I thought more deeply about how often they […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Yesterday (Sun.) was a breakthrough for our revegetation project. Pedro Otero, who although an agro-forestry professor previously seemed reluctant to permit non-commercial planting on his land, finally agreed to let us explore El Toro Basin for any sites where we wish to plant native trees. The problem with Otero had been that the land wasn’t formally divided between five brothers who […]
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Planet Drum Foundation’s efforts to assist in transforming Bahia into an ecological city have taken a progressively more educational bent. We have had a full-time staff member as Bioregional Educational Program Manager, Kristen Lansdale, for nearly half a year. Her reports on the progress of the first twenty-five high school age students have been a continuous revelation of expanding possibilities for […]
In the summer of 2005, Peter Berg returned to Japan. Here we published his reports as we received them. Dispatch #1, Colors Are The Deeds Of Light, July 5, 2005. An exposition of Peter Berg’s bioregional sustainability presentation for eco-philosopher Yuichi Inouye’s Seika University classes with in depth responses to Q & A’s. Dispatch #2, Finding the Future in the Mud, July 10, 2005. Ecological prophecies and excitement in […]