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.
September 1-12, 2008 Summary: I return to Bahia from a reverse culture-shock laden vacation to the United States. While I was gone, Jaime held down the fort and was fortunate enough to receive a heavy rain thus saving him from having to water (alone). Despite the lack of volunteer forces, Jaime and I persevere. The rain while I was gone appears to have been a […]
August 4-18, 2008 Summary: Our volunteer numbers continue to dwindle, but we carry on watering. More seeds are collected, prepared and planted in beds in hopes that a bunch more trees will germinate and be ready for planting in 2009. I leave Bahia for a visit back to the US of A and close the doors of the house for a week and a half. Andrew […]
July 21-August 1, 2008 Summary: We spend one week continuing the water routine, then it rains over the weekend and we get to spend the next week in the greenhouse and out in the field collecting seeds. Major progress is made in organizing, planting seeds and transplanting trees in the greenhouse. On Monday we head to the Don Pepe revegetation site and water the trees. From […]
July 7-21, 2008 Summary: Many of the volunteers finish their stays with us. After getting so far ahead during the whirlwind week of work with the Canadians, I decide to take a weeklong vacation in the mountains. Back in Bahia, we continue watering the sites and two new volunteers, Stephen and Gina arrive. On Monday, William and Jaime depart to do some traveling around Ecuador before […]
June 23-July 6, 2008 Summary: More volunteers show up and we prepare for a visit from a group of Canadian volunteers from the ‘Children of Ecuador’ organization. This group spends six consecutive days working with us and we accomplish nearly a month’s worth of work in that time. Over the weekend Mica and Danielle from New York and Andrew from L.A. arrived. Monday morning we gave […]
June 9-23, 2008 Summary: A second week in a row without volunteers. Jaime and I do what we can in the greenhouse and I successfully acquire my permanent work visa in Guayaquil. Then more volunteers begin to show up and we tackle watering and site maintenance. Monday I translate more of Ramon’s reports and edit Bioregional education materials. Jaime cleans weeds at the greenhouse, waters the […]
May 26-June 6, 2008 Summary: Many volunteers depart as their time runs up, leaving us with few hands. The paperwork piles remain high, ranging from visas to Bioregionalism Education. Jaime keeps things in the field under control. On Monday the Planet Drum volunteers took a tour of Rio Muchacho Farm to get to see dry tropical forest permaculture in action. I on the other hand […]
May 12-23, 2008 Summary: A good volunteer force and enough rain to keep us from full-time watering allow us to make some real progress on site maintenance and in the greenhouse. On Monday we split into groups. I take some of the volunteers to water the trees at La Cruz and then take a neighborhood tour, collecting discarded three-liter bottles along the way. Jaime heads out […]
April 28-May 12, 2008 Note: Click on photos for larger picture Summary: It rains over the weekend! New volunteers are showing up and we get to put off watering for another week. On Monday I spent a final day editing the Bioregionalismo booklet. Jaime went with Sam to the greenhouse and they planted more Pechiche seeds, transplanted more Jaboncillo, Pechiche and Cabo de H seedlings, prepared another couple seed […]
April 16-25, 2008 It’s been a relatively quiet couple of weeks. The single volunteer Sara was replaced by Sam. Fortunately the workload hasn’t required more hands. As May approaches our numbers will be bolstered by some new arrivals. On Wednesday the 16th of April the finishing touches on the Astillero site were completed. Each tree has a nicely shaped bowl around the base for watering and […]