Eco-Ecuador

Collaboration for a Long-Term Sustainable City

Political rallies are growing with intensity daily.

By Renée Portanova | August 24, 2004

August 24,2004 In the field: Everything got watered both this week and last. We also managed to mulch all the sites over the past two weeks. We used a combination of plantain stalks and cornhusks as mulch. Once the material is collected from the food market (we secured a sympathetic source for the plantain stalks and cornhusks), we have to break it up into manageable pieces. […]

Ecuador Project Report: Christina Knott, Aug. 2004

By Christina Knott | August 16, 2004

Christina Knott, VolunteerPlanet Drum Foundation Hola Chicos, Let me start off by saying that I don’t know how Planet Drum managed for so long without the bamboo watering system that is now in place.  The work that used to take all morning can be done in about twenty minutes.  The pipes are placed in the ground beside young and newly transplanted trees.  The goal is […]

Working on educational games for a kids’ Tour

By Christina Knott | August 16, 2004

August 16, 2004 We are back down to one group. Several volunteers have left this week and more are leaving next week. Greenhouse:  A lot of work has been done at the greenhouse this week.  The hillside and the greenhouse plants have been watered. I believe the greenhouse itself is being watered on an almost daily basis thanks to the university students who are helping […]

We surveyed the Mot Mot site this week.

By Renée Portanova | August 13, 2004

August 13, 2004 Due to the volume of volunteers we had this week, we generally broke up into two groups each day. At the greenhouse:  More plants were transplanted into larger containers.  The past transplants are at various stages of ugliness while in  recovery.  The fencing around the compost pit was fixed, replacing some poles and tightening the mesh.  We arranged for the university students to water the greenhouse […]

Adventures and Transplanting Sessions with Jokes

By Christina Knott | August 10, 2004

August 10, 2004 Hola Chicos, Let me start off by saying that I don’t know how Planet Drum managed for so long without the bamboo watering system that is now in place.  The work that used to take all morning can be done in about twenty minutes.  The pipes are placed in the ground beside young and newly transplanted trees.  The goal is to deliver […]

Volunteer Opportunities in Ecuador with Planet Drum Foundation

By Peter Berg | July 24, 2004

Volunteer in the Eco-City Fundación Planet Drum P.O. Box 13-02-13 Bahía de Caráquez, Manabí, Ecuador Website:  www.planetdrum.org    Information on Planet Drum Foundation and volunteer opportunities inBahía de Caráquez, Ecuador Planet Drum was founded in 1973 by Peter Berg, to provide an effective grassroots approach to ecology that emphasizes sustainability, community self-determination and regional self-reliance.  In association with community activists and ecologists, Planet Drum developed the concept of […]

Project Seed Bank

By Renée Portanova | July 23, 2004

Objectives for Project Research For each Dry Tropical Forest species know the following: Dry Tropical Species

We identified twenty-five species to begin researching.

By Renée Portanova | July 23, 2004

July 23, 2004  We finished another site with the bamboo pipes and the last two are near completion.  We also transplanted another forty plants.  We have been  collecting our plastic bottles (which we use as containers for plants) from the beach. We went on the ridge walk from La Cruz to Leonidas Plaza yesterday.  Astounding!  We all enjoyed it immensely. With Marcelo as our guide, I was […]

Ridge walk from La Cruz to Leonidas Plaza.

By Renée Portanova | July 22, 2004

July 22, 2004 The week has been extremely full and lively thus far. In regard to finding new sites:  I will connect Miguel this weekend.  He seems like a good lead and I’m excited at the prospect of planting in the El Torro basin.  Perhaps our presence there will encourage Pedro and his brothers to commit as well. We have the ridge walk from La […]

The bamboo watering system.

By Renée Portanova | July 17, 2004

July 17, 2004 We have progressed tremendously with the implementation of the bamboo watering system, which involves several steps: collecting bamboo, getting it cut, de-corking the pipes, painting them and finally placing them in the ground.  The entire project has cost us nearly nothing to implement ($6). We collect the scrap bamboo from local construction sites and them transport it to the lumber yard.  There […]