February 23rd marked the 17th anniversary of Bahía de Caráquez Ecological City declaration. While local ecological groups (Amigos de la Ecociudad – Friends of the Ecocity) have worked tirelessly over the years to develop their various ecological programs and environmental work, support from the city government has been sporadic and mostly focused on the garbage separation program (organic, inorganic recycling, and inorganic waste). The true heroes […]
Local ecological groups from Bahía worked together on Saturday, February 20th, as part of a provincial-wide reforestation effort coordinated by CORFAM (the provincial government’s reforestation program). Representatives from the Bahía municipality, Cordillera del Bálsamo biological corridor, Cerro Seco biological reserve, Planet Drum, and students from Fanny de Baird, Interamericano high schools and the Catholic University all collaborated with Global Student Embassy to plant approximately 800 […]
There are nearly 3,000 trees of 26 different native species at the Planet Drum greenhouse that are healthy, green, and big enough to be distributed throughout the Manabí province for various revegetation efforts in coordination with regional ONG’s, Municipalities, urban and rural communities, and private landowners. Greenhouse Inventory Species:AchioteAguacateAlgarroboAlmendraBálsamoCacaoCascolCeiboCerezaChirimoyaFernan SanchezFruta de PanGuachapeliGuanabanoGuava de VehucoGuayabaJaboncilloLengua de VacaMameyMandarinaMangoMatePapayaPechicheTamarindoTierra de MonteTotal: Quantity:833375816846884538160714513463316619825455560502973 Additionally, seedbeds of Bálsamo, Guachapeli, Guayaba, […]
During the second meeting in Bahía de Caráquez this year for coordinating a reforestation effort organized by the CORFAM organization (a provincial-wide reforestation initiative led by the regional government), local environmentalists discuss strategies for organizing events in Bahía de Caráquez as part of a larger civil day of ecological action which will take place on February 20th. Throughout the Manabí province, hundreds of thousands of […]
The much-hyped El Niño rains have only made a small appearance in Bahía de Caráquez thus far this rainy season (typically January-April). As of late January it has only rained hard three times, plus a handful of drizzles. Due to recent years of (severe) drought conditions, the rains have been desperately needed for the survival of forest vegetation, and the hills have turned from dusty […]
Dry Tropical Forest Revegetation Project Overview July, 2015 The Dry Tropical Forest Revegetation Project has the following long-term objectives: Ecosystem Restoration Protecting the Environment Bioregional Education During the past few months, significant progress has been made on all of these fronts. Thanks to the international volunteers who have assisted making this happen, and to the interest of local residents in conserving and restoring their surrounding […]
December 6th, 2014 – March 17th, 2015 Field Report It’s been an odd rainy season so far, drier than normal. In January it hardly rained at all, and in February it only rained towards the end of the month. Finally, now in March it’s raining a little more. As of early February, only 20% of farmers in the province had planted anything at all, which […]
September 1 – December 5, 2014 Field Report In September, with the help of volunteers Joe and Grace, an extension to the greenhouse was constructed in order to have more space for storing supplies and for working. The ramada used for storage was tripled in size. There is now much more space for storing plastic bottles and a new area for working in the shade. […]
July 30 – August 29, 2014 Field Report In August, Planet Drum hosted several educational workshops at the greenhouse with students from the Fanny de Baird School in Bahia and the Padre Jorge Paladines High School in San Vicente. The visiting students were given a brief lecture on the main features of the dry forest bioregion and a tour of the greenhouse. Afterwards, they participated […]
June 11 – July 29, 2014 Field Report The past seven weeks have been dedicated to hosting revegetation workshops with local school students at the greenhouse. The Fanny de Baird school has 16 groups of students (averaging 40 students in each group) who are in the proper age range for participating with Planet Drum. So far students from the 8th and 9th grades (ten groups) […]