Eco-Ecuador Dry Tropical Forest Revegetation Project

The Dry Tropical Vegetation of Bahia De Caraquez coastal bioregion is both specific and barely extant. The Project began as an effort to stabilize hillsides (which had recently become mudslides) by replanting a combination of indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses. Working with local people as well as international volunteers, the various project managers have each left their mark on the Eco-Ecuador Project. This page is a compilation of who they are and were and a links to their Reports.

During the past two weeks, all ten sites from this year (2009) were visited and received water.

By Clay Plager-Unger | September 22, 2009

Sept.7-22, 2009 The lull in volunteer help subsided and we welcomed the arrival of six new volunteers. Mateo helped show them the ropes and after he left, I became the only North American left. Now there is an Australian couple, two German girls traveling together and another who showed up last minute as well as a Belgian forestry student. With all of the new hands, […]

Seed collecting.

By Clay Plager-Unger | September 4, 2009

Aug. 17-Sept. 4, 2009 Upon my return from a two week trip the U.S. to visit family and friends and be forcibly reminded of why I love life in Ecuador so much, things had quieted down considerably. Five volunteers had departed during that time, but not before they watered the majority of the revegetation sites. Thanks Jessica, Keara, Aaron, Liz and Jane! The only ones […]

Chino helps care for sites with a truck and two water tanks and the trees respond well.

By Clay Plager-Unger | July 30, 2009

July 2-30, 2009 This time of the year, the dry season, requires maintenance for the revegetation sites that were planted this past rainy season as well as producing new trees in the greenhouse for next year’s sites. We’ve been watering sites on a regular basis. Recently I met with our friend Chino and he now helps out with two places that don’t have water access […]

Bioregional Sustainability Institute (BSI) Progress Report

By Clay Plager-Unger | July 29, 2009

July 2 & July 29, 2009 In one long epic day we drove in to the Planet Drum land with a load of Bamboo (Caña) to begin the first structure for the Bioregional Sustainability Institute: a tent platform. This was the first trip with a motorized vehicle. Chino (the one and only, the incredible) drove his full-sized diesel truck. Along the way we cleared eroding […]

An abundance of dragonflies an indicator of the beginning of the rainy season.

By Clay Plager-Unger | June 30, 2009

June 15-30, 2009 Our volunteer force is a powerhouse. The usual Planet Drum house more or less doubled in numbers with the special 3-week visit or our friends from Saga Educators, coincidentally based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, California.  Two volunteers of theirs from last summer have returned with a crew of five strong high-schoolers to help with the revegetation project. Two volunteers […]

An endless cycle of bottle collecting, soil mixing and transplanting.

By Clay Plager-Unger | June 12, 2009

May 27-June 12, 2009 Time has been divided between watering revegetation sites and tree production in the greenhouse.  The seeds beds continued to pump out Jaboncillo, Seca, Guachepeli and Ceibo saplings. It is an endless cycle of bottle collecting, soil mixing and transplanting.  Lots of times we dug up trees from the seedbeds, which would turn the soil, subsequently new seeds would begin to germinate, requiring further […]

1200 seedlings into bottles.

By Clay Plager-Unger | May 26, 2009

May 6-26, 2009 We continued to ride out the previous period of rains for a bit, accomplishing lots of work in the greenhouse and visiting sites from previous years to check in on and clear the weeds off of the trees. But a lack of further precipitation and prevailing dry season weather eventually led us to resume watering. Among the revegetation sites that were revisited […]

What is so attractive about Planet Drum, and why nobody ever wants to leave.

By Aaron Kase | May 22, 2009

Aaron KasePlanet Drum Volunteerfrom Feb-May, 2009 May 22, 2009 It seemed like no one ever wanted to leave. Volunteers talked about leaving Thursday or Friday, but always pushed their departure date back through the weekend, to Monday or Tuesday. Nicole was planning to stay for one week and stayed for three. The Swedish people also planned to stay for a week and stayed on for […]

Bioregional Education Program expands from one class to three.

By Clay Plager-Unger | May 5, 2009

April 20-May 5, 2009 Rain!  The weather on the coast of Ecuador, like many coastal regions, is determined almost entirely by the oceans. Our Pacific Ocean currents are Humboldt and El Niño. Recent increased activity in the El Niño current, associated with the rainy season (January-April/May), has produced some beautiful rains during the past two weeks. This was after what had been assumed by many to […]

Preparation and planting of seedbeds.

By Clay Plager-Unger | April 16, 2009

April 1-16, 2009 Summary: Volunteers Aaron and Maggie help Jaime and I take care of the tasks at hand. The major undertaking completed in the past two weeks has been preparation and planting of seedbeds. First, a truckload of river sand (salt-free) was acquired to mix with other compost ingredients. We had to go south beyond the town of Charapoto to find river sand in a […]