Parque Bambú

In October 2nd 1995, I planted the first tree. No one had dared to commit such a “rebellious act” in the previous 60 years, because the laws that regulated the land reform in the 1960´s required that all trees had to be cut down and replaced by crops in order to obtain the legal land titles.

As a result of this near-sighted regulation the whole area had been deforested. Once covered with lush humid rainforest the hills are now barren, scarcely covered with stubbly grass. Till today local farmers hate trees – you can´t blame them. To make things worse, farmers set fire to the hills every year.

As a young man, I travelled in the 1970´s to Israel, attracted by the slogan “We make the desert bloom” and hoped to take part in a heartwarming solidarity process to green the Negev wasteland. What I did find was a fraud; the Israelis are systematically harassing the Palestinians and robbing their land.

Their disgust towards the Arabs is built into their educational system, considering them as sub-humans, to the point that this profound brainwashing makes them blind for the cruel repression that their leaders and military impose on the Palestinians. The situation is reminiscent of what happened to their Jewish ancestors in the years of war in Germany. Exit Israel.

My sleepy town got “modern” with the appearance of the first fashion shops, noisy entertainment events and trendy plastic shopping bags.

In a couple of years’ time, all my friends knew more logos of cars and sound systems than the names of trees and plants that used to grow around the town.

And this was just the beginning of our abundance and our alienation.

Our definition of
an Agro-Botanical Garden.

A botanical garden is a garden with a documented collection of living plants for the purpose of scientific research, conservation, display, and education. It is their mandate as a botanical garden that plants are labelled with their botanical names. An agro-botanical garden emphasizes on the intimate bond between agricultural activities and the surrounding vegetation.

Prof. Jacob John of the Kerala Agriculture University (India) gives a good description. Home­stead farm­ing or a food forest, [as practiced in Parque Bambú] and preva­lent in dif­fer­ent parts of the world, pre­sents an ex­cel­lent ex­am­ple of the many sys­tems and prac­tices of permaculture and agro­forestry. The home­stead is an op­er­a­tional farm unit in which a num­ber of crops (in­clud­ing tree crops) are grown, along with rear­ing of live­stock, poul­try or fish, mainly for the pur­pose of meet­ing the farmer’s basic needs.

This vegetation can be a primary forest, a secondary forest or a cultivated woodland, or it can be a combination of them.

Any agricultural activity, especially in subtropical and tropical climates, should be developed in a forested environment. At least one third of the property should be covered with trees. Numerous terms are used to denote these practices: mixed garden horticulture, food forest, home gardening, compound farming, mixed or house gardening, kitchen gardening, household gardening, and homestead agroforestry.

Home­stead farm­ing sat­is­fies the re­quire­ments of sus­tain­abil­ity by being pro­duc­tive, eco­log­i­cally sound, sta­ble, eco­nom­i­cally vi­able, and so­cially ac­cept­able. How­ever, land-use changes, avail­abil­ity of agri­cul­tural labour, and falling com­mod­ity prices are major con­straints in home­stead farm­ing. Fu­ture strate­gies to im­prove home­stead farm­ing should aim at wa­ter­shed-based de­vel­op­ment with focus on a whole-farm or sys­tems ap­proach; re­struc­tur­ing, re­fin­ing and reviving ex­ist­ing home gar­dens.

I assisted in numerous community meetings with local authorities and NGOs. When farmers are asked about their needs, the answer is invariably a request for financial means and technical assistance, the latter meaning chemical fertilizer and herbicides.

There is never a request to prevent the catastrophic fires during the dry season, nor the establishment of a program to protect the water sources. Nor a project to stop the deterioration of the soil due to erosion. When I ask about the aspirations of their children, they proudly answer that the son works in town as a security guard, or that the daughter manages a cosmetic shop in the capital. In other words, stepping in their parent’s lifelong activity of working the land is never an option.  

The outlook for the River Mira Valley, where Parque Bambú is located, is rather grim; the deforestation, the gigantic fires, the ensuing erosion and drought are gradually converting the landscape into a semi-desert. Access to water is not a problem yet, but that can change abruptly. Habitats for many species are shrinking drastically and even disappearing.

For example: the apparently insignificant millipede (Diplopoda julidae) plays an important role in the fragmentation of vegetative litter. They were my best companions in making compost. Now, they are gone. The lizard (Pholidobolus montium), gone. A very common beetle (Phylliplaga spp), that appeared en masse at the beginning of the rainy season, gone. And the list goes on. No one notices because these little creatures have no relevance to humans´ daily routine, or so it seems. 

Since 1995, with the help of volunteers and paid workers, we have been planting trees, against all odds, thousands of trees and vines, and palm trees and bamboos. While we are giving good use to the abundance of weeds to make compost and enriching the soil with microorganisms, neighbors spray glyphosate and burn the stubble after the harvest. 

Now, after three decades, we have an established 15 hectares’ secondary forest, teeming with life.  

Bringing back diversity to such a small property is like spitting in the ocean of destruction, but it is the only way forward. From now on what must grow in this world is biomass and biodiversity, not the expansion economy, nor industrialization.

Bamboo is not only one of the plants with the highest CO2 absorption capacity; it also offers an excellent building material that is environmentally friendly. While the cutting of a tree is a final act – the tree is gone – bamboo can be harvested continuously as only one to four culms are taken out of a big stand of 20 to 25 culms. In other words, harvesting bamboo culms doesn´t kill the plant. New growth comes out of the massive root system.

One of the reasons for our interest and passion for bamboo is that it is a key part of biodiverse ecosystems. Bamboo’s extensive root system binds the soil and raises the water table, it also reduces the risk of landslides, protects the soil from erosion, recycles nutrients, houses local flora and fauna, and is an important part of anti-desertification projects around the world.

Bamboo fits perfectly in our efforts to enhance biodiversity and resilience against climate change in our reserve and in the region.

Bamboo species can be divided into two groups: sympodial (clumping) and monopodial (running) species. Sympodial species grow from the soil in a slowly expanding clump, while monopodial species send underground rhizomes to produce shoots several meters, often at a long distance, from the original mother plant.

We have small amounts of plants available in stock. For large quantities we ask for a deposit and a two-month nursery period to guarantee delivery of good quality plants.

We cut bamboo culms according to the phase of the moon, i.e. in the fourth quarter, and at a length of 6 meters.

With three decades of experience and learning we gained expertise in restoration of eroded and degraded land.
We are glad to share this knowledge with you during your visit or in one of our courses and workshops.

We especially recommend our week-end permaculture course which starts on Friday afternoon and ends on Sunday at 3:00 pm.

Highlights of the course are:

– Design in function of contour lines
– Role of nitrogen fixing plants
– Microorganisms and their symbiosis with plants
– Bacteria and fungi in the ecological succession
– Compost making

Context

Since the 1970s the attack on the natural environment has been relentless, as a result of the exponential growth of the economy. The invasion of pristine landscapes, and the huge amount of gases and toxins released by industrial activity, has destroyed vital ecosystems.

Only during recent decades have communities and individuals felt the need to assist nature in reestablishing habitats. Sadly, most people don´t care about nature, either because it is not part of their daily life or because they feel it is too hopeless a battle to commit to.
But some feel there is a direct connection between their well-being – as an individual, as a community, as a region – and the health of nature. We in Parque Bambú are among those.

Although we realize that we will never be able to restore the forests, the fauna, the water bodies, etc. to the state they were in the 1960s, we have set ourselves a goal to convert the deteriorated landscape into a vibrant food-producing forest. We find plants and inspiration in the remnants of the original cloud forest high up in the hills, and we combine this with what we have learned in the vegetable gardens of the Indian Kichwa women in the villages at the foot of the Imbabura mountain.

We see the nature of cause and effect as we work on the Parque Bambú property. For example, we introduce a species of bromeliad, which results in a hummingbird becoming a regular guest, feeding on the nectar of the bromeliad flower. We plant a vine called Sacha Inchi that produces an edible nut, next we see squirrels rushing over the branches.

Instead of burning the stubble of the harvest, the branches and the old trunks – as local farmers do – we pile them up. One year later, under this pile, we collect the finest black soil, rich in fungi, bacteria and micro-organisms. We learn firsthand that our conservation actions on the land have positive consequences.

Learning comes in many different ways. Unfortunately, we have learned a lot by trial and error and accidental success, because there isn´t much expertise about Ecological Restoration in the area where Parque Bambú is located. We have learned which trees and bamboos are most suitable to plant in harsh conditions. One may read about a successful project in the south of the country and be tempted to copy it. But it turns out that the rain pattern, the ground structure and the slope gradients are so different that simply copying is a recipe for failure.

However, there are basic principles – we call them Permaculture principles – that are applicable in all circumstances, such as erosion control, regenerating soil by optimizing micro-organisms, adding organic matter (a lot), planting fast-growing and/or nitrogen-fixing trees and creating shade.

Assistance

We have a passion for trees. Well, not just trees, also bamboos, vines, palm trees, bromeliads, fungi, bacteria, microorganisms and anything that grows, climbs, greens, flowers and fruits, above and under the ground.

With several decades of experience in Ecological Restoration & Soil Regeneration, we can assist you in designing your property in order to be productive and in accordance with Permaculture principles.
In Ecuador, any restoration activity on sloping land starts with a design that includes the function of the water flow. In other words, the run-off of rainwater must be reduced to a minimum to keep the soil humid. The first step in the process is to set out contour lines on the slope, which will act as guidelines for planting vegetation to reduce erosion.

Next comes the choice of the type of vegetative barrier to be planted along the contour lines. In subtropical and tropical regions, we prefer planting hedgerows of vetiver grass. The reason for this choice is explained in our sister website: www.vetiver.bospas.org

The following step is to define what will be planted in between the contour lines, according to the priorities of the farmer: crops or trees and shrubs.
We recommend that one third of any property should be covered with trees, because soils are fertile and productive mainly thanks to the interaction with trees. Trees, and dense vegetation in general, retain humidity and are a source of litter and fertile soil, creating a habitat for all kinds of macro- and micro-lifeforms. The planting can be done in the form of a forest or along the boundaries of your property.

Massive tree planting vs. Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR)

In temperate climates in the northern and southern hemispheres, forests consist of one or a few tree species, for example, oak trees in the Białowieża Forest of Poland, or Douglas firs in the western USA, or the larch forests of China. On the other hand, tropical forests are characterized by a great number of different species, with 200 tree species per hectare in the Amazon and the Congo basin.

Since colonization by the Spanish, beginning around 1500, many local endemic species in biodiverse forests in Ecuador have been gradually replaced by a single species, such as eucalyptus or pine trees. Also, in recent decades, monoculture plantations have been established, mainly as an economic investment, these monocrop plantations of Paulownia, Teak, Balsa, and African palm –misleadingly called “reforestation”– are not establishing desperately needed biodiversity.

Well intended massive reforestation projects, often led by local authorities and NGOs, are copies of these industrial plantations. In one day hundreds of enthusiastic young people plant thousands of saplings, as part of an event such as Earth Day. If the action is well coordinated and with a good maintenance follow-up, years later we will find a boring monocrop forest. But most of the time, only a few trees survive, and the tree planting day stays only in the memories of the participants.

That said, it follows that our approach is Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR), with the focus on family farms.

Three private rooms and a dormitory are available for visitors, in the style of Bed & Breakfast.

The rooms are family rooms with several beds and have a private bathroom with shower.

Two of the rooms have a porch with hammock. We do not offer lunch and dinner, but the kitchen is at the disposal.

The dining room has three big tables..