Peter Berg’s Writings
Report #4 from Hotel Pais Libre, Canoa, Ecuador Ecuadorian indigenas (native people) revived their active insurgence in the capitol Quito last month near the first anniversary of last year’s rebellion that caused the collapse of the previous government. CONAIE, the native-led political association, had from the beginning promised a renewal of anti-government actions if their original demands weren’t met by last summer. Negotiations had been […]
Report #3 from Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Bahia is a decidedly urban place. Some people do not often leave the environment of a relatively small number of streets and city blocks, and some don’t ever go to truly wild areas which are extremely close by. In this regard they are nearly as citified as denizens of local neighborhoods in Paris, Tokyo or New York. Trappings […]
Report #2 from Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador When the mayor asked six months ago for a volunteer Environmental Planner to assist him personally, I promised to fulfill the request. I correctly supposed that he wanted to undertake initiating and coordinating the ecological policies and activities of city agencies, while also responding to numerous suggestions and needs of non-profit and business groups as well as private […]
On January 24, 2001 a memorial for Gregory Corso was held at the New College in San Francisco. Peter Berg sent Standing on a Street Corner Doing Nothing is Power as a Dispatch from Ecuador for that occasion, and it was read there by Judy Goldhaft. __________________________________ Gregory Corso authored a prodigious legend of personal liberty. This is a small handful of remembrances sprinkled onto what will surely become […]
Report #1 from Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Ciudad Ecologica (Ecological City) activities are at the highest point since the city declaration two years ago. I don’t believe just one person any longer knows everything that’s going on here, so I’ll only update some of what is interfacing with Planet Drum’s projects. Amy Jewel, volunteer recycling planner from New York, and I have taken separate rooms […]
(Rio Chone Border From Astillero to Kilometro Ocho — Excepting El Toro Watershed) The area of Bahia de Caraquez that borders Rio Chone from Astillero to Kilometro Ocho is backed by a long series of eroded hillsides that drain into the river and bay. The principal erosion was initiated by deforestation and grazing over decades, but recently made massive by El Nino mud slides and […]
When we started the planting project in Maria Auxiliadora, it was clear that this could be a testing ground for ideas about recovering eroded land with major potential locally if not throughout coastal Ecuador. Here are some of the factors that make work on only a few hectares of earth so significant. To start with, it consists of either denuded small cliffs or piled up […]
Each trip to Bahia de Caraquez starts with ideas about what will happen that become transformed in profound ways before the visit is over. Two mutations in plans have occurred so far this time. Our revegetation project has morphed into a proposed city park, and what began as a tentative outline for an overall ecological city plan has become an action document. Vicente Leon of […]
Bahia de Caraquez is a small city but its regional importance magnifies its size. How small depends on the particular perspective that a question might require. How many people? Twelve thousand or three times that depending on who is answering and why the number is important. (World Watch Institute uses 25,000 population as the standard for defining a city, so Bahia qualifies at the high […]
September has been overcast nearly every day since we arrived nearly two weeks ago. Some locals have taken to wearing sweaters and jackets and making mock shivers when the say ‘Esta frio (It’s cold)!” But most continue to wear T-shirts as Judy and I do who feel that it’s pretty reasonable weather for San Franciscans. It reminds me of the opposite sweating and immobilized reaction […]