Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: October 1-5, 2007
This week marked a turning point in volunteer
presence. For the past two months we've been getting by with one, two or
at most three steady volunteers, but that's all changing as of now. For
some reason August and September have been the slowest so far. But this
week, four new volunteers showed up, and we're scheduled to be more or
less full (the house holds six volunteers) for the foreseeable future.
Over the weekend, the first of the new batch of
volunteers, Cori, arrived. On Monday I had to take a trip to Manta to
renew my visa. While away, the remaining crew headed to the greenhouse,
where they finished transplanting a seed bed of baby Ceibo trees. They
also did more work on the Algarobo trees, refilling the three-liter
bottles with fresh soil.
Tuesday we hitched a ride with Ricardito to his farm.
On the way, more Pechiche saplings were transplanted from a construction
lot in El Astillero. The Bosque Encantado revegetation site was watered
while at Ricardito's farm and Samango seeds were collected from a large
tree. The seeds pods were ready, brown with rattling seeds inside, and
they were pulled directly from the lowest branches of the tree to minimize
insect damage. From there we moved on to the greenhouse with the
transplanted Pechiche's to plant them into three-liter bottles.
On Wednesday the Maria Dolores and Don Pepe sites
were watered. In the afternoon, Darline, from Belgium, arrived. Darline
will be spending the next three or four months with us. That evening it
drizzled a bit.
Thursday we headed to the Bosque en Medio de las
Ruinas and La Cruz sites to water there. In the afternoon, cleanup around
the house was done. That night Barbie and Lauren showed up for a one month
volunteering stint.
Friday morning the El Toro revegetation site was
watered. In the afternoon, the Planet Drum family went to the greenhouse
where we met up with the Bioregionalistas for an interactive class. With
their help all the compost was turned, the Samango seeds were removed from
their pods, and some Guachepeli saplings were transplanted from seedbeds.
Also a seed bed with a couple hundred Algarobo seeds got planted and all
the plants were watered. It was a great afternoon with the students and
everyone had a lot of fun.
Hasta luego,
Clay
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Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: October 8-12, 2007
Summary: This week we were blessed with some
natural rain to help the watering efforts of the revegetation sites. The
rains were a little unusual for this time of year. This is typically the
driest time, but we are expecting a wetter than usual rainy season, so it
was not entirely surprising. It was an opportunity to refocus efforts on
work in the greenhouse.
Monday we went bottle hunting and then headed to the
greenhouse. On the bus ride I met an acquaintance, Wilmer, who works for
the Consejo Provincial reforestation program. They have large seed banks
of Caoba, Balsamo, and Cedro. He agreed to donate some seeds to us.
At the greenhouse, the compost was turned. Newly
collected bottles were washed and cut, and a batch of Guachapeli seeds was
planted. We've stumbled upon a new technique for germinating Guachapeli
seeds. They are removed from their papery casing and then soaked in room
temperature water for about 24 hours. Some of the seeds then begin to
germinate on their own. The germinating seeds are then planted directly
into a three-liter bottle prepared with soil, skipping the seedbed stage
entirely. This method saves time, space and energy. 
An extension is being constructed at the University
campus. Around the main building and slightly up a hill are some abandoned
pig stalls, which we are converting for storage of trees in three-liter
bottles. The greenhouse is overflowing and to accommodate all of the trees
and continue planting more seeds, we are moving the tallest trees into the
additional space. The frames for the roofs of the stalls are being
renovated and covered with green mesh.
In the afternoon I caught a boat across the Rio Chone
to meet with Wilmer and pick up several hundred seeds each of Caoba,
Balsamo, and Cedro. While in San Vicente I also purchased some green
netting for the greenhouse extension.
There were more sprinkles Tuesday morning. We went
back to the greenhouse, to install the roof on the extension and plant
more Guachapeli. A seedbed full of Tierramonte (the leaves of this shrub
are famous as mulch) needed to be transplanted and we began work on that.
New seedbeds were also prepared.
On Wednesday the Maria Dolores and Don Pepe sites
were watered. Despite the fact that only a little rain has fallen, these
two sites are the most exposed and need the most help. Additionally, rain
has been concentrated around the Bahia area, and has been weaker farther
inland, increasing the need to continue watering there. We then walked to
the greenhouse and finished transplanting the bed of Tierramonte and
planted three beds of newly acquired seeds. 
Early Thursday morning there was even more rain. We
walked about the puddle-strewn streets of Bahia, distributing the
remaining copies of the first edition of Eco-Noticias to schools,
restaurants, hotels, and pedestrians. Cori spent the morning in the
office, translating the Bioregional Education booklet. Ricardito came by
and gave us a ride to the plastic recycling guy in Leonidas Plaza. A batch
of plastic scraps was dropped off. From there we drove out to the garbage
dump and picked up more abandoned sacks of compost from the city's defunct
garbage separation program. The sacks were taken to the greenhouse where
they will be put to much better use. While at the greenhouse, Samango
seeds were prepared by removing them from the pulpy seed pods.
We finished up the week in the greenhouse again where
plants were watered before the weekend and more soil for seedbeds and
transplanting was prepared. The bed with Tierramonte in it was remade and
planted with Cedro seeds.
Hasta luego,
Clay
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Clay Plager-Unger
Field Projects Manager
Planet Drum Foundation
Report: October 15-19, 2007
There was a reduced watering load with the rains from
last week, and we took advantage of it by beginning work on preparing
revegetation sites for 2008 and taking a field trip to San Clemente.
On Monday Moyuyo stakes were cut on a piece of land
near Punta Bellaca. We walked down the beach to get there and into the
hillsides to look for harvestable Moyuyo trunks. Moyuyo is a fast growing
shrub, the branches of which can be harvested, without killing the plant,
for use as posts in fence making. These Moyuyo stakes will become part of
fencing for two sites in the Maria Dolores watershed, where livestock
threaten revegetation efforts. The day was spent bushwhacking and
selectively cutting posts.
Another group of volunteers went to the greenhouse to
water and plant more beds of Cedro, Caoba and Balsamo seeds.
Tuesday everyone went back to the Punta Bellaca land
to cut more stakes and carry out what had been chopped the day before.
Ricardito met us at low tide on the beach to help drive the posts back to
the house.
Wednesday the Bosque Encantado revegetation site was
watered, as well as the greenhouse. In the afternoon we repainted the
shower in the apartment and did house cleaning. Cori continued work on
translating the Bioregional Education booklet from Spanish into English so
that it can be shown off in the States. It's almost ready.
On Thursday morning we set out for San Clemente,
about an hour south of Bahia by bus. A friend of ours from the Cordillera
el Balsamo group had invited us eco-amigos on a trip to visit his nature
preserve, Peņon del Sol. He has a beautiful piece of dry tropical forest
overlooking the ocean just north of the town of San Clemente.
That afternoon he led us on a rugged tour of the land
which resulted in much machete-ing to help find the 'trail.'
On his land there are examples of a very large eight-year old Moyuyo
revegetation site (1,000 plantings), as well as several Guayacans which
were planted nearly eighteen years ago.
A
row of Guayacans next to an eroding gully is pictured here. Both
were planted in the interest of erosion control.
There is also a piece of untouched primary forest,
which we walked by on the hike. An ornithologist from Darwinnet counted
several dozen different bird songs.
We stayed over night and returned Friday morning. It
was an excellent trip, and helpful to see other examples of revegetation,
as well as an opportunity to learn more about other species with which
Planet Drum should begin to work more. 
Two
of the highlight species include Zapote de Perro and Barbasco (several of
the fruits are visible in the 'vista' photo), both of which are hardy,
native trees, do well in very dry climates and on slopes and additionally
bear fruit that provide food for deer and other dry tropical mammals, such
as squirrels.
After getting back on Friday
we went to the greenhouse where the plants were watered and more soil and
bottles were prepared for transplanting. From there we walked to the Maria
Dolores and Don Pepe sites to water. That afternoon my friend Dan, who
spent the past two weeks volunteering with us, had to say goodbye and head
home. Thanks for pitching in! 
Hasta luego,
Clay
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