Sunday, June 8, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Bocas Del Toro
I have just spent a little over two weeks in Bocas Del Toro Panama, a beautiful group of islands located on the Caribbean side of Panama, a half an hour boat ride to the border of Costa Rica if that gives you any perspective on where it is located.
I started going to Bocas four years ago. I remember finding myself in awe of the place partly because of the Jamaican culture. It's different from any other town, islands, or cities that I have visited in Panama because it is a mixture of Latin America and Jamaican Creole. The main island of Bocas is small. Like most buildings in the tropics, no buildings in Bocas are any bigger then a plum tree (an actual rule), and there are not many cars other then a few crazy taxi drivers who will hit you if you don't move out of their way ( seems to be another rule on the island). Mostly people ride bikes. The other islands are about a five to ten minute water taxi ride away. This is one of my favorite parts about Bocas Del Toro. The boat rides are amazing -- they carry you through bright blue water that looks like an airbrushed postcard. At night, you often can see electric storms in the distance while the stars above you burn brightly.
Bastimentoes is my favorite of all the islands because it is less inhabited and influenced by gringo culture. The island makes you feel like you are walking through a scene in Jurassic Park. Raw Jungle. I visited a farm there that was created on a clearing that was made by locals. Five years ago nothing but cleared land was there. The plot of land was cleared for cattle -- a process that is not uncommon for Panama or anywhere in Latin America for that matter.
Clearing jungle for grazing often destroys the land and makes it almost impossible for regrowth. But five years ago, a group of people who wanted to use the land on Bastamientoes for agro forestry started working on plots of land that had been cleared for cattle. As a result the farm I visited is wild; you can see every tropical plant you can dream of: pink Bananas, fresh coffee, beautiful water lilies...the list goes on. When I first walked up to the farm, I felt like I stepped into the Secret Garden or what I imagined it to be when I was a kid reading the book.
Spencer was one of the main contributors to regrowing this jungle. He took my friend Liz and me around, and as we hiked he pointed out every plant and flower and why it was important for them to grow in that location. We were in awe -- they planted a jungle!! Unfortunately, the farm is abandoned because the people who started it lost funding. It now gets the odd college student volunteer who heard about the farm through word of mouth, but mostly its just Spencer who comes to Bocas once in awhile to check on the plants and give his best to the locals. We sat in an abandoned kitchen in a casita ( no walls, just a hut), but you could tell that it once was a beautiful meeting place where the ideas for the layout of the farm used to flow. Now the place is covered in spider webs with huge banana spiders that are harmless yet intimidating due to their vast size and bright colors. I cleared the dust off of a hammock left behind and watched Spencer cut different fruits that he had picked. He fed us this one berry that makes everything you put in your mouth taste sweet. The Jungle harbors so many wonders and remedies -- it seems unreal that so much of it is being destroyed.
As we left the farm, I realized what a beautiful and rare place these islands are. And, later, as I sat in the small Bocas Del Toro airport, I glanced around at all the posters of the new high rise developments, resort after resort, beach after beach for sale. I wondered how long this place will stay magical and continue to be tropical paradise with a rich culture. I wondered if I would ever return...
I started going to Bocas four years ago. I remember finding myself in awe of the place partly because of the Jamaican culture. It's different from any other town, islands, or cities that I have visited in Panama because it is a mixture of Latin America and Jamaican Creole. The main island of Bocas is small. Like most buildings in the tropics, no buildings in Bocas are any bigger then a plum tree (an actual rule), and there are not many cars other then a few crazy taxi drivers who will hit you if you don't move out of their way ( seems to be another rule on the island). Mostly people ride bikes. The other islands are about a five to ten minute water taxi ride away. This is one of my favorite parts about Bocas Del Toro. The boat rides are amazing -- they carry you through bright blue water that looks like an airbrushed postcard. At night, you often can see electric storms in the distance while the stars above you burn brightly.
Bastimentoes is my favorite of all the islands because it is less inhabited and influenced by gringo culture. The island makes you feel like you are walking through a scene in Jurassic Park. Raw Jungle. I visited a farm there that was created on a clearing that was made by locals. Five years ago nothing but cleared land was there. The plot of land was cleared for cattle -- a process that is not uncommon for Panama or anywhere in Latin America for that matter.
Clearing jungle for grazing often destroys the land and makes it almost impossible for regrowth. But five years ago, a group of people who wanted to use the land on Bastamientoes for agro forestry started working on plots of land that had been cleared for cattle. As a result the farm I visited is wild; you can see every tropical plant you can dream of: pink Bananas, fresh coffee, beautiful water lilies...the list goes on. When I first walked up to the farm, I felt like I stepped into the Secret Garden or what I imagined it to be when I was a kid reading the book.
Spencer was one of the main contributors to regrowing this jungle. He took my friend Liz and me around, and as we hiked he pointed out every plant and flower and why it was important for them to grow in that location. We were in awe -- they planted a jungle!! Unfortunately, the farm is abandoned because the people who started it lost funding. It now gets the odd college student volunteer who heard about the farm through word of mouth, but mostly its just Spencer who comes to Bocas once in awhile to check on the plants and give his best to the locals. We sat in an abandoned kitchen in a casita ( no walls, just a hut), but you could tell that it once was a beautiful meeting place where the ideas for the layout of the farm used to flow. Now the place is covered in spider webs with huge banana spiders that are harmless yet intimidating due to their vast size and bright colors. I cleared the dust off of a hammock left behind and watched Spencer cut different fruits that he had picked. He fed us this one berry that makes everything you put in your mouth taste sweet. The Jungle harbors so many wonders and remedies -- it seems unreal that so much of it is being destroyed.
As we left the farm, I realized what a beautiful and rare place these islands are. And, later, as I sat in the small Bocas Del Toro airport, I glanced around at all the posters of the new high rise developments, resort after resort, beach after beach for sale. I wondered how long this place will stay magical and continue to be tropical paradise with a rich culture. I wondered if I would ever return...
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Panama City
After a long delay at the Miami airport (somewhere around five hours waiting my hour flight to Panama) I realized that I was nervous about arriving. Maybe it was because I thought that I forgot how to get into the "right frame of mind" that prepares you to be in Latin America. Because in all reality you have to change your mind set and put everything on Panama time. But as soon as I got into Casco Veijo I realized how beautiful this part of the city is compared to the rest of Panama city.
This growing city is under constant construction, the stench of pollution and humidity is so intense there were times yesterday when I was walking around the "main part of Panama City" that I thought I could not breathe. Leaving me feeling badly for the people who have to work in this mess all the time. There are pictures of the plans of the buildings throughout the city. Huge buildings that intend to go up as I write this. All of it seems very unplanned, and still half of the city is pitch black at night.
Casco Veijo is very different, seems to be the best plan for a city in the tropics. Everything is very open, music blares through every window. Some blocks show the rough side of this part of the city, areas are still very unsafe. I am writing this at my friends hostel he just opened up called Luna's Castle. An very old building, three levels holding a kitchen, bedrooms, and reading area. It's interesting being back in the backpacker scene, and yes it is quite the scene. I enjoy most of it getting to know people from all over the world and why they wanted to explore Panama. Dan (one of the owners of the hostel) at lunch today was telling that the block that the hostel is on is pretty safe because one of the richest men in Panama has a apartment across the street and he has security guards but then Dan changed his tone and pointed to an old falling down building and said "see that building, thats where the roughest gang in Panama lives, I am still trying to figure out if they like us cause we are on their block or if they are going to kill us, haha"
Most people from Panama won't wonder these streets. But that is mostly hype. I have never put myself in a situation where I felt unsafe here.
Most people from Panama won't wonder these streets. But that is mostly hype. I have never put myself in a situation where I felt unsafe here.
There is feeling of change happening everywhere this mixture of old Panama with a new yuppie/indie feel. Hidden art shows, a Rasta club open all hours of the night next to a heavy metal garage band.
But even as all of these sounds bounce from building to building there is still the content beat of latin american music...
But even as all of these sounds bounce from building to building there is still the content beat of latin american music...
Yesterday, I was able to check out two of Spencer's gardens. One of the gardens is located behind his apartment, the other is in an abandoned building. Both are amazing, he has collected some of the most rarest herbs and plants from around the world and now is growing them in the city.
I am taking many notes on how this all works and am excited about learning about what he is doing, and why it is so sustainable. As of right now, it is raining, first real rain of the "rainy season" putting my rain boots on and going to go check out more plants....
I am taking many notes on how this all works and am excited about learning about what he is doing, and why it is so sustainable. As of right now, it is raining, first real rain of the "rainy season" putting my rain boots on and going to go check out more plants....
Monday, April 14, 2008
a glimpse into Agroforestry.
My adventures in Panama do not begin on the San Blas islands where most of the traditional Kuna live. I will be starting my journey in Panama City. A city that is right now the definition of globalization. The fastest growing economy in Latin America. The main part of the city (from what I recall...and through what my local friends have been informing me) is beginning to resemble Miami. But the old part of the city, still shows the beauty of Panama. Casco Viejo. Colorful buildings, chipping paint, cobblestone roads, a real feeling of Latin American culture.
I will be interning with an Agroforestry company. Where a friend of mine has been collecting different species of plants and trees (mostly medicinal) and has been commissioned to re-plant these species. More details will unfold about this complex job of his once I arrive in Panama. But for the time being I have been trying to understand what Agroforestry truly is, and why it is so important. So as I learn, I hope to also inform you....
Tree domestication boosts family income
Farming groups delighted by the success of their nurseries and the income they can generate with their newly-acquired tree domestication skills.
The World Agroforestry Centre tree domestication training programmes in Cameroon, supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), have generated a lucrative new nursery industry with farmer groups producing their own improved planting materials for agroforestry trees, particularly indigenous fruit and medicinal trees.
For Christophe and Delphine Missé and the other seven members of their farming group, in the village of Lekie-Assi in Cameroon's Centre Province, the nursery in which they are domesticating indigenous trees and improving some valuable exotic species has produced small miracles. "The plants we produce in the nursery have changed our lives," says Delphine Missé. "My husband has been able to build this house, and our eldest daughter who is 12 was able to join secondary school after completing her primary education. The school costs 260 000 CFA (USD 500) a year and it is because of the plants we sell that we can afford that."
The Missé family and the other members of their farming group are delighted by the success of their nursery and the income they can generate with their newly-acquired skills in vegetative propagation, marcotting, grafting and rooting of cuttings techniques. These have allowed them to multiply superior indigenous trees such as safou (Dacryodes edulis), njansang (Ricinodendron heudelotii), Kola nut (Cola spp), and bush mango or Dika nut (Irvingia gabonensis)."This year we earned more from selling plants than we did from our cash crop, cocoa," says the Missé family.
The farmers' group in Lekie-Assi has come a long way in a short time. Six years ago, they were trekking 15 km to a central pilot nursery where the World Agroforestry Centre and its national partners were offering training on vegetative propagation. After they finished their training and mastered the techniques, the Centre helped them establish their own nursery in 2001.
Ebenezar Asaah, the Centre's agroforestry tree domestication specialist, says the Centre began the training on tree propagation techniques in 1998, as part of their participatory tree domestication programme supported by lFAD. They held training sessions for farmer groups, community-based organizations, NGOs, national research institutes and also extension organizations. They began with pilot nurseries in the different ecological zones of Cameroon – two each for the forest and humid savannah zones. These nurseries were to test and evaluate vegetative propagation techniques with farmers, and later to train neighbouring communities on these techniques, nursery management and germplasm collection.
Two years later, off-shoot nurseries began to emerge throughout Cameroon, even in the South Province, where no pilot nursery had been established. These satellite nurseries, in turn, began spawning more nurseries, which now amount to 67 in Cameroon. Richard Ndeugue also recognized the business potential of the nurseries. On the main road between Yaoundé and the western highlands, Ndeugue has put up a shade house, three non-mist propagators and one taller 'humidity chamber' in which he weans marcotts after they have been lopped off a mother tree and potted in polythene bags. In this thriving nursery, established in 2003, Ndeugue earns a healthy income for himself, his family and the six men who work with him.A page from his ledger shows that the group has taken in an impressive 395 400 CFA, about USD 750, from marcotts, rooted cuttings and grafts of a wide range of indigenous and exotic agroforestry trees. "Researchers even come to me from Yaoundé asking for medicinal plants." "Nurseries are good business," says Deman Aseh, another young nursery operator and entrepreneur in the village of Mulombo in Cameroon's mountainous Northwest province. Aseh and his mixed farming group MUMIFAG say that they are generating income not just for themselves but also "for farmers in their community who are now able to plant and grow lucrative and high-quality indigenous trees on their farms".
Aseh has employed his brother full-time in his small shop so he can devote himself to the agroforestry nursery and to the new shop the group has opened on the roadside, to sell the improved planting materials that lay the basis for a new era of farming with high quality agroforestry trees in the humid tropics of Africa.
Source: World Agroforestry Centre, 'Agroforestry in action’ series, document reference 2005-11-Trees and Markets-African Humid Tropics
I will be interning with an Agroforestry company. Where a friend of mine has been collecting different species of plants and trees (mostly medicinal) and has been commissioned to re-plant these species. More details will unfold about this complex job of his once I arrive in Panama. But for the time being I have been trying to understand what Agroforestry truly is, and why it is so important. So as I learn, I hope to also inform you....
Tree domestication boosts family income
Farming groups delighted by the success of their nurseries and the income they can generate with their newly-acquired tree domestication skills.
The World Agroforestry Centre tree domestication training programmes in Cameroon, supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), have generated a lucrative new nursery industry with farmer groups producing their own improved planting materials for agroforestry trees, particularly indigenous fruit and medicinal trees.
For Christophe and Delphine Missé and the other seven members of their farming group, in the village of Lekie-Assi in Cameroon's Centre Province, the nursery in which they are domesticating indigenous trees and improving some valuable exotic species has produced small miracles. "The plants we produce in the nursery have changed our lives," says Delphine Missé. "My husband has been able to build this house, and our eldest daughter who is 12 was able to join secondary school after completing her primary education. The school costs 260 000 CFA (USD 500) a year and it is because of the plants we sell that we can afford that."
The Missé family and the other members of their farming group are delighted by the success of their nursery and the income they can generate with their newly-acquired skills in vegetative propagation, marcotting, grafting and rooting of cuttings techniques. These have allowed them to multiply superior indigenous trees such as safou (Dacryodes edulis), njansang (Ricinodendron heudelotii), Kola nut (Cola spp), and bush mango or Dika nut (Irvingia gabonensis)."This year we earned more from selling plants than we did from our cash crop, cocoa," says the Missé family.
The farmers' group in Lekie-Assi has come a long way in a short time. Six years ago, they were trekking 15 km to a central pilot nursery where the World Agroforestry Centre and its national partners were offering training on vegetative propagation. After they finished their training and mastered the techniques, the Centre helped them establish their own nursery in 2001.
Ebenezar Asaah, the Centre's agroforestry tree domestication specialist, says the Centre began the training on tree propagation techniques in 1998, as part of their participatory tree domestication programme supported by lFAD. They held training sessions for farmer groups, community-based organizations, NGOs, national research institutes and also extension organizations. They began with pilot nurseries in the different ecological zones of Cameroon – two each for the forest and humid savannah zones. These nurseries were to test and evaluate vegetative propagation techniques with farmers, and later to train neighbouring communities on these techniques, nursery management and germplasm collection.
Two years later, off-shoot nurseries began to emerge throughout Cameroon, even in the South Province, where no pilot nursery had been established. These satellite nurseries, in turn, began spawning more nurseries, which now amount to 67 in Cameroon. Richard Ndeugue also recognized the business potential of the nurseries. On the main road between Yaoundé and the western highlands, Ndeugue has put up a shade house, three non-mist propagators and one taller 'humidity chamber' in which he weans marcotts after they have been lopped off a mother tree and potted in polythene bags. In this thriving nursery, established in 2003, Ndeugue earns a healthy income for himself, his family and the six men who work with him.A page from his ledger shows that the group has taken in an impressive 395 400 CFA, about USD 750, from marcotts, rooted cuttings and grafts of a wide range of indigenous and exotic agroforestry trees. "Researchers even come to me from Yaoundé asking for medicinal plants." "Nurseries are good business," says Deman Aseh, another young nursery operator and entrepreneur in the village of Mulombo in Cameroon's mountainous Northwest province. Aseh and his mixed farming group MUMIFAG say that they are generating income not just for themselves but also "for farmers in their community who are now able to plant and grow lucrative and high-quality indigenous trees on their farms".
Aseh has employed his brother full-time in his small shop so he can devote himself to the agroforestry nursery and to the new shop the group has opened on the roadside, to sell the improved planting materials that lay the basis for a new era of farming with high quality agroforestry trees in the humid tropics of Africa.
Source: World Agroforestry Centre, 'Agroforestry in action’ series, document reference 2005-11-Trees and Markets-African Humid Tropics
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