La Costa

In an attempt to organize, I'll write a bit about each of the major regions of Ecuador.  La Costa, or the coast, is the strip of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains.  As I understand it, this doesn't just mean the beach, it refers to the lowlands on the western side of the country.

Culturally, they say the costenos (i need a tilde for that n) are more laid back than the mountain folk.  They have a different accent, swallowing the ends of words.  If I remember correctly, there are less indigenous here than in the mountains or the eastern jungle, and there are more afro-ecuadorians.  There is some community which is said to have been founded by a group of Africans freed from a life of slavery when the ship they were on wrecked, so that's cool.

Out of 30 Natural Resource Conservation PCV posts marked on a map, only three are on beach (not counting Galapagos, they said no one from omnibus 101 would be there), all of which are North of Guayaquil.  Three more are in the El Oro province, which is coastal, but also mountainous.  . . I just got side tracked big time trying to map the NRC PCV posts on Google Earth and overlay the national parks and reserves.  I don't feel like blogging anymore tonight, but I got tons more bouncing around in my head. later 

Conservation Tasks and Activities

OK. I've been reading up a good bit already, so I have to go back over everything if I want to post my observations here.  I'll start with some of the material I've received from the Peace Corps:

I'll be serving within the Natural Resources Conservation program, one of four programs in omnibus 101 (thats like the 101st class of volunteers to serve in Ecuador).   The other programs involve agriculture, health, and families and children.  I understand that volunteers often end up working with the other programs, depending on their interests and opportunities.  Anyway, my job title within the program is Forestry Extension.  

The natural resources program has three primary goals: environmental education, conservation, and income generation.  Forestry Extension means mostly conservation tasks.  These tasks include: assess status of natural resources and socio-economic situation; ID and select local orgs, leaders, stake-holders to implement sustainable practices; develop strategic plans (more on this late); conduct formal and non-formal training; form stakeholder groups; legalize community groups; conflict mitigation; network nationally and internationally; increase ability to demand services from local and central governments. ..

I've done got started with some of these already, so let me break it down fer ya:

assessment of natural resources and socio-economic situation: well this comes straight from the sustainability triangle concepts of environment, economy, and social equity.  Two pressing problems for Ecuador's medio ambiente, according to an Encyclopedia of Ecuador my mom got for me are deforestation and erosion.  Clearly these are interconnected, and they have different effects in the different regions.  Along the coast, loss of the mangroves, or manglares, is a cause for concern.  Most all of them have been cut down already and converted to shrimp farms, cause we just love our shrimp.  There are a lot of problems with that, but maybe I should save it for another post.  Shoot, I'm so behind with this, I don't know how I'm gonna get it all organized. . . hrm. . . 

For now I'm gonna move on to another list of conservation activities I got from the PC.  They sent me a CD with powerpoint presentations for each program.  The activities listed for the Conservation goal within the Natural Resources Management program are: Native Species Nurseries; Reforestation Projects; Agroforestry and Analog Forestry; Raising of Native Fish Species; Raising of Llamas and Alpacas; Organic Family, School, and Community Gardens; Organizational Development; Institutional Strengthening; and Conflict Resolution.  Sounds good to me.  I worked at a nursery before.  I planted trees.  I dug some organic gardens. I've even developed organizations, strengthened (and weakened) institutions, and resolved a few conflicts at the student housing co-ops back in Austin.  But I never done it in Ecuador, an I didn't do it so much or so well in the states, so I know I gotta lot to learn.

Pre-Departure

I'm scheduled to leave in one week.  One night in DC, 3 days in Quito, and then 3 months in Cayambe.  That is the orientation and training schedule as far as I know.  Halfway through, they will tell me where I am to be posted and I will get to check it out.  

Ecuador is not a huge country; everyone writes that it is about the size of Colorado, but it contains some very diverse ecosystems.  I've been trying to read up as much as possible, but there is a whole lot to know.  I plan on treating this blog like a learning record for my observations--- uh. gotta run to the dojo. i'll pick this up later