Ecuador’s Dry Tropical Forest is one of the most threatened habitats in the world. It is estimated that less than 1% of the original dry-tropical coverage remains. It harbors extraordinarily high levels of unique species and biological diversity. In some areas more than 270 bird species have been counted. 77 of these bird species are endemic to this eco-region and 22 of those are considered to be at risk of extinction.

Planet Drum (PD) addresses this issue through environmental education and actively re-vegetating damaged forest ecosystems. Re-vegetation is PD’s bio-regional version of reforestation, which emphasizes ecosystem restoration through the non-commercial planting of exclusively native species. This promotes soil stabilization as well as the creation of habitat for other plants and animals.

We create partnerships with individuals, communities, organizations and institutions in order to ensure that all of the trees are properly planted and cared for. Demand for trees continues to blossom and there is a real need for teaching tree propagation and planting practices in addition to distributing trees.

PD has developed and published a “Dry Tropical Forest Re-vegetation Handbook” that is distributed as part of workshops that accompany tree donations. The handbook explains the re-vegetation process in easily accessible terms accompanied by drawings. It promotes a variety of aspects of bio-regionalism beyond tree propagation and planting, including materials recycling, composting for soil production and improvement, and the importance of ecosystem restoration.

In 2013, Planet Drum produced over 8,000 trees at our native plant nursery. Half of these were fruit producing and the other half were forest species. The goal for 2014 is to produce more than 15,000 trees. 2,000 of these trees will be planted directly by PD and the remaining trees will be distributed to partner communities, organizations and institutions. Workshops will be held to properly train strategic partners in the re-vegetation process and 1,000 copies of the “Re-vegetation Handbook” will be distributed.

Planet Drum’s eventual goal is to become the Re-vegetation Headquarters for Dry Tropical Forest ecosystems in the province of Manabí. The Re-vegetation Project is PD’s approach to creating bio-regional communities that coexist with their surrounding ecosystems and that encourage human activities that benefit the local populace in addition to reinforcing the ecosystems’ natural, wild cycles.